Nested Therapeutics, a Versant Ventures-backed biotech creating a next-gen precision medicine platform to focus on hard-to-treat cancers, announced the close of a $90 million Series A financing round Thursday morning.
The total investments since Versant founded the company now reach $125 million. The financing round was led by the life sciences investing arm of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and included new investors like Foresite Capital, Avidity Partners, Cowen Healthcare Investments and Section 32.
Nested is led by CEO Darrin Miles, who previously worked as chief commercial officer at Agios Pharmaceuticals; chief scientific officer Klaus Hoeflich, Ph.D., who served as SVP of biology at Blueprint Medicines; and head of drug discovery Yongxin Han, Ph.D., who spent nearly 30 years working in Merck Research Laboratories.
Nested’s lead compound is NEST-1, a non-degrading dual molecular glue that targets components of the MAPK pathway. The company stated that it has “demonstrated potentially superior efficacy” relative both single agents and combinations in RAS/MAPK-driven models.
“Our drug discovery platform enables us to find new, overlooked areas of opportunity in the form of high confidence targets with unconventional pockets, while also generating the insights necessary to design therapeutics with novel mechanisms for a perfect fit,” said Darrin Miles, Chief Executive Officer of Nested Therapeutics.
Versant has supported other notable names in the pharma and biotech space, including Crispr Therapeutics, Amira Pharmaceuticals, Pipeline Therapeutics and Ventus Therapeutics.
Carlo Rizzuto, Ph.D., managing director at Versant Ventures and a member of Nested’s board of directors, said the company has “potential to unlock significant therapeutic real estate.”
