
Initial Therapeutics Launches with $75M From Apple Tree to Combat “Undruggable” Protein Targets
Life sciences-focused venture capital firm Apple Tree Partners (ATP) has established South San Francisco, CA-based biotech startup Initial Therapeutics and infused it with $75 million Series A funding.
With its platform, the company plans to develop new pill drugs that can go after so-called “undruggable” protein targets that promote cancer.
The three-year old company was founded by Spiros Liras, a venture partner at Apple Tree, and three University of California researchers – Kevan Shokat, Jamie Cate and Brian Paegel.
“We started Initial Therapeutics to go after therapeutically important proteins that no one has been able to target successfully. I’m thrilled to see the amazing progress the Initial team has made on that front, with profound implications for the treatment of life-threatening diseases,” Cate said.
With $2.65 billion in committed capital, ATP is also behind the recently launched Replicate Biosciences, a biotech studying self-replicating RNA, and Intergalactic Therapeutics, which aims to create non-viral gene therapies.
