AsianScientist (Jul. 22, 2013) – The University of Queensland spin-off Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has completed a US$14 million Series B venture financing initiative.
The financing, led by new investor Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC), included the participation of Series A investors Lilly Ventures and Starfish Ventures, both based in Melbourne, Australia.
Protagonist Therapeutics Inc. was established in 2001 based on research at UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB). It has now raised more than US$23 million towards its goal of developing new drugs for a range of diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease.
Headquartered at Menlo Park, California, the company also has discovery operations at IMB in the Queensland Bioscience Precinct in Brisbane and at Menlo Park.
The venture funding will support the discovery and development of Protagonist’s pipeline of oral disulfide rich peptide (DRP) therapeutics that combine the best properties of small molecule drugs and large molecule biologics in a single chemical entity.
Protagonist founder, IMB Associate Professor Mark Smythe, said this was a boost for the research team and their efforts to progress discoveries to market for the benefit of patients whose medical needs can’t be met by current drugs.
“Our research teams, which are based both here in Brisbane and in California in the US, are one of the leaders in the field of peptide therapeutics. This additional funding will help us progress our internal peptide drug discovery and development programs into improved treatments for patients. It also complements our existing commercial partnerships with Massachusetts-based Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and Denmark-based Zealand Pharma,” he said.
The Australian Minister for Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts Ian Walker congratulated the company on its recent success.
“This investment is a great sign of the relevance and strength of Queensland’s discovery research around the world. Protagonist Therapeutics Inc.’s research builds on our state’s globally competitive capacity to meet the international challenge of finding innovative ways to treat unmet medical needs and creating economic value,” Minister Walker said.
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Source: UQ.
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