May 10 Quick Takes: ‘molecular machines’ company MOMA lands $150M series B

Two years after its launch with $86 million from a syndicate led by Third Rock Ventures, MOMA Therapeutics Inc. is moving its precision oncology programs toward the clinic with a new $150 million series B round. The biotech believes that by looking at stepwise changes in protein conformation, it can discover targets that disrupt intracellular mechanisms associated with disease states, which it calls “molecular machines.” Goldman Sachs Asset Management led the round, which also included new investors Section 32, Pavilion Capital, Invus and LifeSci Venture Partners. Also participating were returning investors Nextech Invest, Cormorant Asset Management, Casdin Capital, Rock Springs Capital, Creacion Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments and Third Rock Ventures.

Domain Therapeutics S.A. will advance the clinical development of its EP4R antagonist, DT-9081, and move two G-protein coupled receptors programs, which include an anti-CCR8 antibody, into the IND stage after raising $42 million in series A financing co-led by Panacea Venture, CTI Life Sciences and 3B Future Health Fund. The biopharma also plans to use the proceeds to progress its discovery-stage pipeline of therapies targeting GPCRs. The financing round also saw participation from adMare BioInnovations, Schroders Capital, Omnes, Turenne Capital, Theodorus, Viva BioInnovator, as well as existing investor Seventure Partners...