Turbine, a company simulating cellular decision making to unlock novel oncology therapies, today announces the successful closing of its pre-Series A round by raising EUR 5.7 million (USD 6.85m). The transatlantic round was co-led by new investors Accel and XTX Ventures and included Boston Millenia Partners who joined the existing syndicate comprising Delin Ventures, Atlantic Labs and o2h Ventures.
Most wet-lab experiments offer limited insight into the complex underlying biology of the disease. As a result, existing preclinical models in oncology often fail to translate into successful drugs in the clinic. To improve these outcomes, Turbine has created the Simulated Cell™ comprising an advanced digital model of human cell behaviour and cloud-based simulated experiments. The Simulated Cell™ can rapidly run unlimited number of experiments in comparison to wet-lab methods.
The platform – guided by AI algorithms – offers significant benefits over industry gold standard screening methods, such as CRISPR, by providing granular insight into the molecular mechanism of target-disease interactions. Supported by an enhanced biological understanding of the target intervention and the subset of cancer patients most likely to respond, Turbine’s simulation-based approach increases the likelihood of clinical success.
The team aims to tackle the highest unmet need in oncology diseases, following the launch of a PARP resistance-focused pipeline in 2019. PARP inhibition is the most established area for ground-breaking cancer therapies in DNA Damage Response (DDR). However, it poses challenges for drug development as around 40% of patients do not respond to PARP inhibitors, and the majority of those who do, acquire resistance after two years1. Turbine has uncovered three novel target candidates against multiple PARP resistance mechanisms with its lead asset in hit validation phase.
