CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Scholar Rock, a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing drugs that selectively target supracellular activation of growth factors in the disease microenvironment, today announced a $36 million Series B financing. Fidelity Management and Research Company led the financing with participation from additional new investor Cormorant Asset Management. All of the existing investors in Scholar Rock also participated in this financing round, including Polaris Partners, Timothy Springer, ARCH Venture Partners, EcoR1 Capital and The Kraft Group.
“We are excited to have such strong support in this Series B financing, from an outstanding syndicate of life sciences investors with the expertise to help us build a leading innovative biotechnology company,” said Nagesh Mahanthappa, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Scholar Rock. “This financing recognizes the power of our supracellular activation platform to create a compelling drug pipeline in a broad array of therapeutic areas, including fibrosis, muscle disease, immuno-oncology and autoimmune disease.”
Scholar Rock was founded on unique insights into supracellular activation of growth factors, a newly elucidated mechanism by which nature regulates growth factor activation in complex disease microenvironments. Through modulation of supracellular activation, highly specific and localized efficacy at the site of disease can be achieved, overcoming the challenges that have limited the traditional approach of inhibiting growth factors systemically. Scholar Rock is the first company to exploit this mechanism to discover and develop a pipeline of potential best-in-class therapeutic candidates.
“Scholar Rock’s supracellular activation platform is a fundamentally new and improved approach to targeting growth factors that are biologically validated mediators of a broad spectrum of diseases with high unmet clinical need,” said Amir Nashat, Managing Partner of Polaris Partners, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Scholar Rock. “Data generated in the company’s partnership with Janssen, as well as in its proprietary SRK-015 program for the treatment of muscle disease, demonstrate that Scholar Rock’s therapeutic candidates hold the potential for significantly improved outcomes for patients suffering from previously intractable diseases.”
About Scholar Rock
Scholar Rock is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing a novel class of biologic therapies that target supracellular activation of growth factors in the disease microenvironment. The Company’s initial proprietary and partnered drug discovery programs target specific growth factors which are present in the microenvironments of significant diseases, including fibrosis, musculoskeletal diseases, immuno-oncology and autoimmune diseases. Scholar Rock was founded upon discoveries made by its scientific founders, Professors Timothy Springer, PhD, and Leonard Zon, MD, of Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, related to the molecular mechanisms of supracellular activation. The company is backed by leading investors, including Polaris Partners, Timothy Springer, ARCH Venture Partners, Fidelity Investments, EcoR1 Capital, The Kraft Group, and Cormorant Asset Management.
