Funding will enable Think Bioscience to expand its drug discovery platform and advance its internal drug development programs.

Boulder, CO, Aug. 18, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Think Bioscience (“Think”), a synthetic biology company focused on developing small-molecule therapeutics that target difficult-to-drug proteins, has raised $17M in an oversubscribed Seed round led by Innovation Endeavors and Xora Innovation, with participation from AV8 Ventures, Buff Gold Ventures, and LiquidMetal Ventures. Returning pre-seed investors include Xora, Wireframe Ventures, and Axial VC. Think is a spin-out from CU Boulder and is a client company of Innosphere Ventures' incubation program.

Nature endows living systems with the biochemical machinery to build an enormous variety of bioactive molecules. Think Bioscience harnesses this machinery by using microorganisms to build small molecules that hit elusive drug targets. The company is focused on a several therapeutic areas, including oncology, autoimmune, and metabolic disease.    

“Our proprietary technology leverages synthetic biology to build novel bioactive compounds,” said Dr. Jerome Fox, cofounder and CEO at Think Bioscience. “Think Bioscience’s approach encodes microbes with a drug design challenge and uses them to come up with new solutions, for example, novel inhibitors of a disease relevant enzyme.”

Xora Innovation, an early-stage deep tech investing platform of Temasek, has reinvested to co-lead this round. “From the beginning, Think impressed us with their technical creativity, operational focus, and capital efficiency. We look forward to continuing to work with the Think team as they develop a robust internal drug pipeline from their proprietary platform,” said Donna See, CEO of Xora Innovation.

“Think developed a unique platform that blends computational biology with biological computation. We are excited by the unique approach to using biological systems to identify novel drug candidates against previously ‘undruggable’ targets,” said Dr. Joel Dudley, Partner at Innovation Endeavors.

About Think Bioscience:
Think Bioscience is reimagining synthetic biology by using living systems to guide the design and assembly of better medicines. The unique approach to drug discovery combines applied microbiology, enzymology, and computational science to develop small-molecule therapeutics against elusive targets. Learn more about us at www.thinkbioscience.com.

About Xora Innovation:
Xora Innovation invests in disruptive, world-changing ventures forged by ambitious founders and powered by compelling scientific breakthroughs. Headquartered in Singapore, Xora is an early-stage deep tech investing platform of Temasek. For more information, visit https://xora.vc.

About Innovation Endeavors:
Innovation Endeavors is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in mission-driven founders, transformational technologies, and emergent ecosystems for a new world. The firm’s central investment thesis, the Super Evolution, combines data, leading-edge computation, and advanced engineering to transform a range of industries, including agriculture, supply chain, the life sciences, transportation, and more. Its investments include AlphaSense, Astra, Color, Blue River Technology, Eikon Therapeutics, Fabric, Formlabs, Freenome, Planet, Rebellion Defense, Replica, SoFi, Uber, Upstart, Vicarious Surgical, and more. For more information, visit www.InnovationEndeavors.com.

Source: https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/08/18/2501099/0/en/Think-Bioscience-Raises-17M-in-Oversubscribed-Seed-Round-to-Develop-Small-Molecule-Drugs-that-Hit-Undruggable-Proteins.html