On March 1, 2021 Modulus Discovery, Inc., a preclinical-stage computation-driven drug discovery firm, reported the successful closing of its Series C funding round in the amount of 2.34B JPY (approximately $20.4M USD) (Press release, Modulus Discovery, MAR 1, 2022, View Source [SID1234609202]). Series C investors include Green Coinvest Investment Limited Partnership., SBI Group., Heights Capital Management, Inc., and existing shareholders including UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd., JAFCO Group Co., Ltd., Keio Innovation Initiative, Inc. (KII), and Fast Track Initiative, Inc. Modulus has raised to date, a total of 5.86B JPY (approximately $51M USD).
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Modulus will use the proceeds to further its portfolio of R&D programs driven by its proprietary computational drug discovery platform and globally networked operational model. In addition to accelerating its existing pipeline of over 10 R&D programs, the company aims to significantly increase its business value through expansion of its platform infrastructure, collaborations with industry and academic partners, and increase personnel in R&D and operations to deliver innovative drug candidates through clinical partnerships and additional drug discovery collaborations.
Comment from S. Roy Kimura, Ph.D., Co-founder and CEO:
"We are very excited to announce the close of our Series C round, including follow-on investments from our existing shareholders and participation from new investors. We’d like to thank our current shareholders who have supported us over the years, and welcome our new investors who share our vision to sustainably discover and deliver multiple game-changing therapeutic candidates. With the support of our shareholders over the last 5 years, we have built, validated, and applied our versatile and efficient simulation-driven platform. Since the launch of our discovery portfolio in 2018, we have achieved positive results in multiple in vivo disease model proof-of-concept studies for 3 of our most advanced lead programs. Our next step is to launch first-in-human clinical trials for these candidates in close collaboration with our partners. We look forward to continuing our mission with our shareholders to accelerate the delivery of much needed new medicines for patients and their families worldwide."
Comment from Yusuke Matsumoto, SBI Group.:
"While the cost and time required for research and development of new drugs are increasing, Modulus has successfully created a business model from scratch for generating multiple clinical candidates with a small team of drug discovery simulation experts. We also believe that Modulus is well-positioned to expand its business globally and hope to support Modulus’ business expansion by making full use of SBI Group’s rich industry relationships."
Comment from Takahiro Mizumoto, UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd.:
"We are pleased to participate in this Series C, our second investment in the company. Modulus is a rare drug discovery venture in Japan, through a fabless, in silico drug discovery model, combined its top-notch science and management team. Through its strong ties to academia, Modulus is engaged in collaboration with the University of Tokyo in Cryo Electron Microscope as well as Tokyo Institute of Technology’s TSUBAME (a large-scale supercomputer), in addition to securing drug discovery seeds from other academic institutions. We believe that Modulus’ R&D approach can be a model case for future industry-academic collaborations. We are so thrilled to be part of Modulus’ mission in the discovery of new medicines and treatments for more patients in need."