B.C. biotech startup Reverb Therapeutics has raised $17 million in seed funding to develop a platform that harnesses natural immune system responses to treat diseases.
The US$12 million seed funding is led by Amplitude Ventures, and includes the Multiple Myeloma Investment Fund, KdT Ventures, Finchley Heathcare Ventures, InBC Investment Corp. and Seido Capital.
Reverb Therapeutics’ platform is based on cytokine messaging. Cytokines are signaling proteins that direct immune cells to target infections.
Reverb Therapeutics’ bispecific antibody platform -- Amplify•R -- amplifies natural cytokine signaling for use in the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases.
“In vivo preclinical studies have established proof-of-concept for the Amplify•R platform’s ability to redirect endogenous cytokines and shrink tumors,” Reverb Therapeutics says.
The company says it will use the funding to advance one of the compounds in its pipeline – AMP01 -- to the preclinical candidate stage.
“Since its launch, Reverb has made significant progress in demonstrating the superiority of the Amplify•R platform,” Bharat Srinivasa, principal at Amplitude Ventures, said in a news release.
“The preclinical data generated to date are extremely exciting and we believe that the Amplify•R platform will enable Reverb to succeed where many attempts using exogenous cytokines ran into insurmountable obstacles.”
