NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Synthetic protein manufacturer Synthorx announced it has raised $10 million in a Series B financing round led by RA Capital Management.
Previous investors Avalon Ventures and Correlation Ventures also joined the round.
The firm said in a statement that it would use the funding to develop and scale up production of proteins and peptides which incorporate synthetic amino acids, potentially for use in therapeutics.
Synthorx, a spinout of The Scripps Research Institute, is developing a platform for producing synthetic proteins based on an organism engineered to incorporate the so-called "unnatural" pair of nucleotide bases d5SICSTP and dNaMTP — dubbed X and Y — into its genome. The expanded genetic alphabet will allow Synthorx to design new proteins with synthetic amino acids.
"Having a living cell replicate and maintain a third base pair is not just about creating something new. It's about being able to make better protein therapeutics," Synthorx CEO Court Turner said in a statement. "By genetically encoding for the site-specific incorporation of select synthetic amino acids, we can create entirely novel proteins with greatly enhanced properties and enable a new generation of tailored protein therapeutics." Turner also noted that synthetic amino acids could impart characteristics to improve delivery, potency, efficacy, selectivity, and efficiency.
The firm launched in 2014 alongside a paper published on the replication of synthetic base pairs, with an undisclosed amount of funding.