Bicycle on the move
Bicycle Therapeutics, a UK biotechnology company developing a novel technology platform for the creation of biotherapeutics, has secured seed funding from Atlas Venture and Novartis Venture Fund.
Bicycle Therapeutics, a UK biotechnology company developing a novel technology platform for the creation of biotherapeutics, has secured seed funding from Atlas Venture and Novartis Venture Fund.
Bicycle is a spin out from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. Dr John Tite is chief executive.
Bicycle's technology involves the application of phage selection techniques to the identification and optimisation of chemically constrained cyclic peptides with high target specificity and binding affinities that are also stable to unfolding and to the action of proteases. These peptides could be regarded as mini-antibodies with covalent organic cores, and as such should overcome the weaknesses of previous generations of peptide-based therapeutics.
"Bicycle Therapeutics aims to develop its proprietary technology to create a pipeline of drugs which have the potential to be truly differentiated medicines," said Tite.
As part of the seed funding, founding investors Dr Regina Hodits of Atlas Venture and Dr Anja Koenig of Novartis Venture Fund will join the board of directors.
"It is very satisfying to see another new company coming from the Laboratory's research, and we will continue to work with the company to ensure that the benefits of this technology are realised as quickly as possible to improve human health," said Dr Hugh Pelham, director of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology.