The oversubscribed round is a strong endorsement of A-Alpha's technology platforms, recent partnerships, and discovery programs for biologics and molecular glues
SEATTLE, July 25, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- A-Alpha Bio, a synthetic biology and machine learning (ML) company that measures and engineers protein-protein interactions, today announced a $22.4M Series A2. The round was led by previous investor Perceptive Xontogeny Ventures, with strong support from Madrona and other existing investors. Breakout Ventures joined the round as a new investor, and Lindy Fishburne, Managing Partner at Breakout Ventures, will join the board as an observer.
The funding will enable further development of the company's AlphaSeq and AlphaBind platforms and accelerate their oncology-focused internal pipeline. In pursuit of their mission to accelerate therapeutic discovery to improve human health, A-Alpha Bio has recently announced collaborations with Bristol Myers Squibb, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Gilead Sciences to discover molecular glue targets for protein degradation, accelerate antibody discovery and development for emerging biothreats, and advance next-generation HIV therapeutic options, respectively. These collaborations underscore the flexibility of A-Alpha's platforms to address a broad range of complex biological challenges, contributing to the development of next-generation therapeutics.
"A-Alpha's rapid progress has been inspiring, with the team's talent and commitment paving the way for extensive applications of our platforms and fostering remarkable collaborations," said David Younger, Co-Founder and CEO. "The continued support from our investors empowers us to focus on our mission of improving human health by progressing our internal programs and further developing our unique platforms. We are particularly excited to welcome our new Board Observer, Lindy Fishburne, who brings a wealth of industry expertise and shares our vision for the future of medicine empowered by synthetic biology and machine learning."
Innovating at the intersection of wet lab and computation, A-Alpha Bio is leveraging their synthetic biology and ML platforms, AlphaSeq and AlphaBind. The AlphaSeq platform measures protein-protein interactions on an unparalleled scale using genetic engineering and DNA sequencing. The resulting enormous and quantitative datasets are then fed to AlphaBind, which uses ML to train models that predict new protein sequences with desired binding properties. This wet-lab / dry-lab integration enables groundbreaking biological insights, expedites scientific discoveries, and enhances the engineering of more effective therapeutics.
"We are excited to join A-Alpha Bio in their mission to improve human health using synthetic biology and machine learning," said Lindy Fishburne, Managing Partner at Breakout Ventures. "Their platforms have already shown a great deal of promise through their internal pipeline and partnerships, and we believe they have the potential to redefine our understanding of protein-protein interactions and accelerate the development of innovative and high-impact therapeutics."
The Series A2 brings A-Alpha's total funding to $51M, including non-dilutive funding from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense. As the company continues to expand its partnerships and pipeline, it remains committed to its mission of improving human health by unlocking the potential of protein-protein interactions.
To learn more, please visit https://www.aalphabio.com/.
About A-Alpha Bio
A-Alpha Bio uses synthetic biology and machine learning to measure, discover, predict, and engineer protein-protein interactions.
The company's AlphaSeq platform applies synthetic biology to experimentally measure millions of protein-protein interaction affinities simultaneously. Protein binding data is incorporated into the company's AlphaBind platform to train machine learning models that predict binding from sequence. A-Alpha Bio uses both platforms to discover and optimize high-impact therapeutics for their own pipeline and in partnership with industry leaders.
A-Alpha Bio is based in Seattle and was founded in 2017 at the University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design and Center for Synthetic Biology. To learn more, please visit: https://www.aalphabio.com/.
Media Contact
Juan Avila, A-Alpha Bio, 5125894486, [email protected]
SOURCE A-Alpha Bio
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