MRL Ventures Fund

Ray Therapeutics is a company that creates novel optogenetic gene therapies for patients with blinding diseases. The company develops technology to study and learn about rare retinal diseases, allowing doctors to cure and treat inherited retinal diseases using optogenetics.

Anavo Therapeutics is the first company to systematically drug phosphatases, a rich target space previously considered undruggable for decades. We have attracted world-leading scientific expertise in phosphatase-driven disease biology and drug discovery to unlock the full potential of phosphatase-targeted allosteric modulators. In oncology, Anavo is developing multiple first-in-class therapeutic programs and will build on partnerships around its platform to establish a rich pipeline across several indications

Carisma Therapeutics is a biotech company that develops novel chimeric antigen receptor macrophage technology to treat solid tumors. Its cell therapies apply powerful chimeric antigen receptor technology and adoptive cell transfer in cancer therapy and to macrophages that infiltrate the solid tumor micro-environment that enables solid tumor patients to receive strong cellular immunotherapy and cancer treatments.

LifeMine Therapeutics combines genomics with AI and synthetic biology to discover and develop a pipeline of novel medicines. LifeMine’s Avatar-Rx platform integrates high-throughput microbiology, data science and machine learning, genome engineering, and automation technologies to search the fungal biosphere for novel GEMs having a predetermined target and biological function. The platform integrates chemoinformatic-assisted drug optimization and state-of-the-art chemical synthesis with biotransformation to advance new product candidates into development. Founded by Gregory Verdine, PhD, Rick Klausner, MD, and WeiQing Zhou, MBA. LifeMine Therapeutics is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Eyebiotech is a vision treatment company that develops products to preserve, repair, and improve eyesight. The firm guards against sight-threatening eye disorders and developed the first anti-vascular endothelial growth factor medication for patients with age-related macular degeneration, allowing those with eye ailments to regain their eyesight.

AmbAgon Therapeutics is a developer of cancer molecule therapeutics. The company offers research of a small molecule that augments a tumor-suppressing protein. AmbAgon Therapeutics was founded by Christian Ottmann, Lucas Brunsveld, and Michelle Arkin.

Mozart Therapeutics is a biotech startup focusing on the development of disease-modifying therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The company is using a novel regulatory CD8 T cell network to create disease-modifying CD8 Treg modulators for a variety of autoimmune diseases. Mozart is developing a pipeline of first-in-class 'CD8 Treg modulators with the goal of restoring long-term immune balance and preventing the progressive damage caused by an autoreactive and pathogenic immune response.

PAQ Therapeutics is a biotechnology company pioneering a new approach to restoring health and curing disease through autophagy, the body's most versatile mechanism for natural cellular degradation.

Therini Bio is a biotechnology company specializing in fibrin-targeting therapies to treat inflammatory neurological and retinal diseases. It develops therapeutics based on unique insights into the novel role of fibrin in driving chronic innate immune activation that characterizes a broad set of human diseases with high unmet needs. The current therapeutic target is based on novel findings by the Akassoglou lab at Gladstone/UCSF that implicate fibrin as a key driver of neuroinflammation.

Entrada Therapeutics’ mission is to treat devastating diseases through the intracellular delivery of biologics. Entrada’s technology enables the efficient intracellular delivery of proteins, peptides and nucleic acids, thus allowing for the development of programs across several intracellular target classes. The Company's novel approach addresses current challenges associated with both large and small molecule therapeutics and represents a fundamental advancement in the delivery of molecules into the cytosol. For more information, please visit www.entradatx.com.

Carisma Therapeutics is a biotech company that develops novel chimeric antigen receptor macrophage technology to treat solid tumors. Its cell therapies apply powerful chimeric antigen receptor technology and adoptive cell transfer in cancer therapy and to macrophages that infiltrate the solid tumor micro-environment that enables solid tumor patients to receive strong cellular immunotherapy and cancer treatments.

Xilio Therapeutics is a biotechnology company. They offer cancer immunotherapies designed to improve patient outcomes by unleashing the power of the immune system selectively at the site of the tumor. Their tumor-selective immunotherapies are based on its proprietary technology, which maximizes the potency of proven immuno-oncology therapies and restricts their activity to the tumor to minimize peripheral side effects.

LifeMine Therapeutics combines genomics with AI and synthetic biology to discover and develop a pipeline of novel medicines. LifeMine’s Avatar-Rx platform integrates high-throughput microbiology, data science and machine learning, genome engineering, and automation technologies to search the fungal biosphere for novel GEMs having a predetermined target and biological function. The platform integrates chemoinformatic-assisted drug optimization and state-of-the-art chemical synthesis with biotransformation to advance new product candidates into development. Founded by Gregory Verdine, PhD, Rick Klausner, MD, and WeiQing Zhou, MBA. LifeMine Therapeutics is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Carisma Therapeutics is a biotech company that develops novel chimeric antigen receptor macrophage technology to treat solid tumors. Its cell therapies apply powerful chimeric antigen receptor technology and adoptive cell transfer in cancer therapy and to macrophages that infiltrate the solid tumor micro-environment that enables solid tumor patients to receive strong cellular immunotherapy and cancer treatments.

Tallac Therapeutics offers next-generation immunotherapies for cancer patients. The company is based in Burlingame, California.

Imago BioSciences is a clinical development company dedicated to translating state-of-the art science into novel medicines for treating diseases that currently pose great challenges to patients, their families and their physicians. The company leverages the skills and extensive experience of its team and the financial commitment of its investors to focus on a small family of orphan diseases. Imago BioSciences translates unique insights into high impact transformative therapies that alter the natural history of disease allowing patients to live longer, disease-free lives. Imago BioSciences was founded in 2012 and is based in Redwood City, California.

Lava Therapeutics is a developer of a bispecific antibody platform used to engage gamma-delta T cells for the treatment of hematological and solid cancers. Its platform creates and develops next-generation γδ T cell engaging bispecific antibodies for the treatment of cancer as well as develop potent, safe, and cost-effective biopharmaceuticals that arm the immune system to recognize and destroy tumor cells that enable doctors to safely channel the immune system's response towards tumors.

HotSpot Therapeutics is a biotech startup that focuses on the development of allosteric therapies targeting regulatory sites on proteins. It develops a therapy platform to discover medicines and provide proper treatment to identify hotspots and locate pathway treatments for cancer, metabolic and rare diseases, leverages a database of hotspot structures, harnessing the power of data science in its multidisciplinary approach to drug discovery, and helps patients to get treatment against several diseases. HotSpot Therapeutics was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Xilio Therapeutics is a biotechnology company. They offer cancer immunotherapies designed to improve patient outcomes by unleashing the power of the immune system selectively at the site of the tumor. Their tumor-selective immunotherapies are based on its proprietary technology, which maximizes the potency of proven immuno-oncology therapies and restricts their activity to the tumor to minimize peripheral side effects.

Rheostat’s mission is to invent novel treatments for neurodegenerative disease through modulation of mitophagy and autophagy. They believe that the degradation of toxic cellular components, whether they are damaged organelles or aggregated proteins, is a fundamental node of biology. Mutations that impair these clearance pathways cause multiple neurodegenerative diseases, many of which are associated with cognitive impairment. They aim to leverage our understanding of these critical pathways to discover and develop novel small molecules that will restore cellular balance and treat neurodegenerative and rare diseases.

LabCentral developing novel cancer treatments: Conkwest, Inc, headquartered in DelMar, California, is opening its research laboratory at LabCentral. Conkwest is an innovative life sciences company that is developing and commercializing cell based treatments for cancer and viral infections.

Imago BioSciences is a clinical development company dedicated to translating state-of-the art science into novel medicines for treating diseases that currently pose great challenges to patients, their families and their physicians. The company leverages the skills and extensive experience of its team and the financial commitment of its investors to focus on a small family of orphan diseases. Imago BioSciences translates unique insights into high impact transformative therapies that alter the natural history of disease allowing patients to live longer, disease-free lives. Imago BioSciences was founded in 2012 and is based in Redwood City, California.

Entrada Therapeutics’ mission is to treat devastating diseases through the intracellular delivery of biologics. Entrada’s technology enables the efficient intracellular delivery of proteins, peptides and nucleic acids, thus allowing for the development of programs across several intracellular target classes. The Company's novel approach addresses current challenges associated with both large and small molecule therapeutics and represents a fundamental advancement in the delivery of molecules into the cytosol. For more information, please visit www.entradatx.com.

Rheostat’s mission is to invent novel treatments for neurodegenerative disease through modulation of mitophagy and autophagy. They believe that the degradation of toxic cellular components, whether they are damaged organelles or aggregated proteins, is a fundamental node of biology. Mutations that impair these clearance pathways cause multiple neurodegenerative diseases, many of which are associated with cognitive impairment. They aim to leverage our understanding of these critical pathways to discover and develop novel small molecules that will restore cellular balance and treat neurodegenerative and rare diseases.

Kymera Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that specializes in the field of targeted protein degradation. It features a proprietary predictive modeling degradation platform with a novel small molecule modality to accelerate the drug discovery designed for disease-causing proteins.

Alector is combining state-of-the-art antibody technology and recent discoveries in neuroimmunology and human genetics to develop novel therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease, other forms of dementia, and mechanistically related neurodegenerative disorders. Alector’s strategy is to efficiently generate and validate antibody drugs with unique functional properties that engage key disease-altering targets. This approach is enabled by a strategic alliance with Adimab, the industry leader in discovery and optimization of antibody therapeutics. Alector is currently developing leads for 4 major targets and anticipates taking 2 of these through pre-clinical development and IND enabling studies within 24 months. Alector has incorporated a highly integrated and lean biotechnology structure with extensive outsourcing that supports core scientific and management teams.

Carisma Therapeutics is a biotech company that develops novel chimeric antigen receptor macrophage technology to treat solid tumors. Its cell therapies apply powerful chimeric antigen receptor technology and adoptive cell transfer in cancer therapy and to macrophages that infiltrate the solid tumor micro-environment that enables solid tumor patients to receive strong cellular immunotherapy and cancer treatments.

Visterra, Inc. engages in pharmaceutical drug research and development of therapeutic and diagnostic products for infectious diseases. It also provides structure-based design of therapeutics and diagnostic platforms, based on an understanding of glycobiology and glycochemistry. The company was formerly known as Parasol Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name in May 2010. Visterra, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

LifeMine Therapeutics combines genomics with AI and synthetic biology to discover and develop a pipeline of novel medicines. LifeMine’s Avatar-Rx platform integrates high-throughput microbiology, data science and machine learning, genome engineering, and automation technologies to search the fungal biosphere for novel GEMs having a predetermined target and biological function. The platform integrates chemoinformatic-assisted drug optimization and state-of-the-art chemical synthesis with biotransformation to advance new product candidates into development. Founded by Gregory Verdine, PhD, Rick Klausner, MD, and WeiQing Zhou, MBA. LifeMine Therapeutics is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Spero Therapeutics is developing first in class therapeutics for treatment of gram-negative infections. The company leverages a top-tier chemistry and microbiology team, an efficient virtual approach to drug development, and a focus on high potential, novel mechanisms to fill the unmet need for early stage therapeutics targeting serious bacterial infections. Its lead program addresses a novel target driving virulence and persistence of pseudomonas aeruginosa infections and other gram-negative pathogens.

Translate Bio is a biotechnology company that in biotechnology, RNA therapeutics, and rare diseases. Translate Bio is a therapeutics company developing a new class of potentially transformative medicines to treat diseases caused by protein or gene dysfunction.

Spero Therapeutics is developing first in class therapeutics for treatment of gram-negative infections. The company leverages a top-tier chemistry and microbiology team, an efficient virtual approach to drug development, and a focus on high potential, novel mechanisms to fill the unmet need for early stage therapeutics targeting serious bacterial infections. Its lead program addresses a novel target driving virulence and persistence of pseudomonas aeruginosa infections and other gram-negative pathogens.

Alector is combining state-of-the-art antibody technology and recent discoveries in neuroimmunology and human genetics to develop novel therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease, other forms of dementia, and mechanistically related neurodegenerative disorders. Alector’s strategy is to efficiently generate and validate antibody drugs with unique functional properties that engage key disease-altering targets. This approach is enabled by a strategic alliance with Adimab, the industry leader in discovery and optimization of antibody therapeutics. Alector is currently developing leads for 4 major targets and anticipates taking 2 of these through pre-clinical development and IND enabling studies within 24 months. Alector has incorporated a highly integrated and lean biotechnology structure with extensive outsourcing that supports core scientific and management teams.

Viridian Therapeutics provides treatments for patients with diseases that are underserved by therapies. They develops product candidates to treat patients who suffer from thyroid eye disease, a debilitating orphan disease, and early-stage programs focused on targets and indications.

Alector is combining state-of-the-art antibody technology and recent discoveries in neuroimmunology and human genetics to develop novel therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease, other forms of dementia, and mechanistically related neurodegenerative disorders. Alector’s strategy is to efficiently generate and validate antibody drugs with unique functional properties that engage key disease-altering targets. This approach is enabled by a strategic alliance with Adimab, the industry leader in discovery and optimization of antibody therapeutics. Alector is currently developing leads for 4 major targets and anticipates taking 2 of these through pre-clinical development and IND enabling studies within 24 months. Alector has incorporated a highly integrated and lean biotechnology structure with extensive outsourcing that supports core scientific and management teams.

Translate Bio is a biotechnology company that in biotechnology, RNA therapeutics, and rare diseases. Translate Bio is a therapeutics company developing a new class of potentially transformative medicines to treat diseases caused by protein or gene dysfunction.

Imago BioSciences is a clinical development company dedicated to translating state-of-the art science into novel medicines for treating diseases that currently pose great challenges to patients, their families and their physicians. The company leverages the skills and extensive experience of its team and the financial commitment of its investors to focus on a small family of orphan diseases. Imago BioSciences translates unique insights into high impact transformative therapies that alter the natural history of disease allowing patients to live longer, disease-free lives. Imago BioSciences was founded in 2012 and is based in Redwood City, California.