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news.Assembly Pharmaceuticals and BioCrossroads have announced that the BioCrossroads Indiana Seed Fund II has made an investment in Assembly Pharmaceuticals.
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Assembly is developing novel drugs for the treatment and potential cure of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Johnson & Johnson, Twilight Ventures, Luson Bioventures and private investors also participated in the financing round.
Assembly Pharmaceuticals is applying its novel science to develop agents with the potential to cure chronic HBV.
Assembly Pharmaceuticals was formed in 2012 to develop drugs based on the breakthrough science of co-founder and Indiana University professor Dr Adam Zlotnick. Dr Zlotnick is a pioneer in the biophysics of viral capsid assembly. His research has led to the discovery of multiple families of small molecules known as Core Protein Allosteric Modulators (CpAMs), which target the HBV core protein, a unique viral protein with no human analogue that is involved in multiple stages of the HBV life cycle.
Assembly has exclusively licensed intellectual property from Indiana University Research and Technology Corporation that was discovered in the laboratory of Professor Zlotnick. Assembly has a research collaboration with Indiana University and also has research facilities in San Francisco led by co-founder, vice president of R&D and chief medical officer Dr Uri Lopatin, who previously led HBV programs at Gilead Sciences and Roche Pharmaceuticals.
BioCrossroads president and CEO David L Johnson noted that iIn addition to their breakthrough science discovered here in Indiana, Assembly Pharmaceuticals has one of the most talented and impressive management and research teams in the industry.
"Their promising HBV therapy could be a game-changing treatment for millions of people around the world," Johnson added.
Assembly was co-founded by Indiana biotechnology entrepreneurs Dr Richard DiMarchi, currently a distinguished professor at Indiana University, and Derek Small, a successful serial biopharmaceutical entrepreneur.
The other founders include Dr Zlotnick, Dr Lopatin and William Turner, who was previously a successful discovery medicinal chemist at Lilly Research Laboratories for over 30 years.
Dr DiMarchi oversaw the development of many major drugs while at Eli Lilly and is also a founder of multiple successful life sciences ventures. Derek Small most recently served as founding CEO and president of clinical-stage CNS drug development innovator Naurex and founding CEO and president of drug discovery platform company, Coferon.
The initial financing is being used to advance drug candidates through preclinical proof of concept, broaden the research collaboration in Indiana, and establish the company’s biology labs in San Francisco.
The Indiana Seed Fund II is an early-stage fund focused on identifying, creating and developing the next generation of leading Indiana-based life sciences companies. It is managed by BioCrossroads and makes investments in early-stage biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic, ag-biotech and health information technology products and platforms.