Perpetual Medicines has successfully concluded an $8 million seed financing round, spearheaded by Chengwei Capital, to propel its groundbreaking computational design and synthesis platform for peptide drug discovery. Embracing recent strides in computational modelling driven by artificial intelligence, deep learning, and machine learning, Perpetual Medicines aims to tap into the vast and untapped potential of peptide chemical space for drug discovery.
Alongside this milestone, the company unveiled key appointments to its leadership team, including Dr. Kerry L. Blanchard, who assumes the roles of Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO, alongside Dr. Ved Srivastava as Chief Technology Officer, and Dr. Xiang Ye as Chief Scientific Officer.
Dr. Blanchard highlighted the innovative strides enabled by computational modelling, emphasizing their platform’s capability to virtually navigate through millions of peptide sequences. This approach integrates physics-based computations to foresee binding and drug-like properties, complemented by experimental data integration, fostering the discovery and optimization of potential candidates. This methodology promises to accelerate peptide drug discovery, reduce costs, and enhance the quality of drug candidates.
Peptide therapeutics emerge as a swiftly burgeoning sector within pharmaceuticals, projected to surpass $140 billion in annual sales by 2030. Dr. Blanchard underscored the unique attributes of peptides, acting as a bridge between small molecule drugs and therapeutic antibodies. Their substantial size and specificity enable the obstruction of interactions between proteins both inside and outside cells, opening avenues to previously inaccessible target classes and enabling the treatment of formerly “undruggable” pathobiology.
The infusion of funds from this financing round will propel the advancement of the company’s most promising program into the clinical stage. Additionally, Perpetual Medicines aims to bolster its preclinical portfolio, focusing on projects spanning oncology, autoimmunity, and metabolic diseases.
With a strong focus on computational modelling and innovative strategies, Perpetual Medicines stands poised to revolutionize drug discovery, leveraging cutting-edge technology to explore the uncharted realms of peptide-based therapeutics and ushering in a new era of potential treatments for a myriad of diseases.