Business Wire

Animol Discovery, Inc. Announces Series B Financing of $34.0 million to Advance Its Pipeline of Novel Veterinary Pharmaceuticals

Share

Animol Discovery, Inc., a pioneer in veterinary pharmaceutical discovery, today announced it has raised $34.0 million in Series B financing. The investment was led by Novalis Lifesciences, with participation from Finistere Ventures and existing investor Anterra Capital. The proceeds allow the company to expand and advance its pipeline of novel active pharmaceutical ingredients through clinical development and further enhance its cutting-edge drug discovery platform.

The $40Bn animal health industry continues to demand novel medicines to treat infectious and chronic diseases in companion and production animals. Recent successes, such as Apoquel™ from Zoetis and Nexguard™ from Boehringer Ingelheim, demonstrate the potential to build towards blockbuster franchises in the sector with novel pharmaceutical products.

“Pet parents and livestock farmers continue to demand novel veterinary pharmaceuticals that can protect animals against diseases and improve quality of life,” said Andrew Plant PhD, chief executive officer, Animol Discovery. “Despite this strong demand, innovation is lagging. At Animol, we seek to address this innovation gap by leveraging the most advanced tools from human pharma to bring forward a wealth of new medicines that can benefit animals and the people who care for them.”

Founded in 2020 and incubated by Anterra Capital, Animol is pioneering the use of DNA Encoded Library (DEL) drug discovery technology coupled with powerful machine learning approaches to enable the rapid discovery of novel veterinary medicines.

“We have built Animol on the same cutting edge discovery techniques that we are using to disrupt drug discovery in human pharma (ZebiAI - acquired by Relay Therapeutics) and crop protection (Enko Chem),” said Philip Austin, Managing Partner at Anterra Capital. “Translating these tools to the massive opportunity available in veterinary pharma was the next obvious step and we are already seeing their use successfully build into a rich pipeline of promising compounds.”

Animol also announced that Marijn Dekkers PhD, founder & chairman of Novalis LifeSciences LLC will join the Board of Directors. Dr. Dekkers formerly served as the CEO of Bayer AG, and as the CEO of Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. At Bayer he oversaw one of the largest global animal health companies.

“Most current medicines in the $40B veterinary pharma market are derived from drugs that have been originally developed for humans. There is of course nothing wrong with that, but there are many animal-specific diseases that require a targeted effort. I like Animol Discovery’s approach to use its breakthrough drug discovery platform to specifically address significant unmet needs in animals. I am looking forward to working with the team to optimize the opportunity ahead,” said Dr. Dekkers.

“It is a great pleasure to be able to welcome Marijn Dekkers to our Board of Directors. Dr. Dekkers is an exceptional industry leader with a track record of turning innovation into successful businesses across the spectrum of life sciences, including in animal health,” said Andrew Plant PhD, chief executive officer, Animol Discovery. “He is an excellent addition to our team of experienced industry leaders.”

“I am also delighted to bring Doug Hutchens on board as chief scientific officer. Dr. Hutchens brings a wealth of industry experience in animal health research and product development; having someone who has also served as Chief Veterinary Officer within a major animal health company brings huge value to our expanding team,” added Dr. Plant.

“I am thrilled by the prospect of joining Animol’s dynamic and experienced team as chief scientific officer,” said Doug Hutchens, DVM, PhD. “The company’s ability to interrogate protein targets with billions of DNA-tagged molecules and, using DNA sequencing, identify selective inhibitors from numerous diverse chemical families is game changing in animal health drug discovery. Leveraging these data with proprietary, highly predictive machine learning algorithms, is enabling the identification of novel drug-like compounds in a matter of weeks from the initial DEL screen. This technology platform greatly expands the opportunities, significantly increases the probability, and accelerates the timeline in developing new classes of therapeutic molecules.”

About Animol

Animol is a pioneer in using state of the art drug discovery technology to discover small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients to transform standards of care in veterinary medicine. The company is reducing the time and cost to discover novel active ingredients utilizing DNA-encoded libraries, machine learning/AI and structure-based design.

Animol is a private company based in Boston, Massachusetts. For more information see www.Animol-discovery.com

About Novalis LifeSciences LLC

Novalis LifeSciences LLC is an investment and advisory firm for the Life Science industry that was founded in 2017 by Marijn E. Dekkers. With a team of experienced operating executives from the Life Science industry, Novalis funds and advises visionary Life Science entrepreneurs. In addition to making financial investments, Novalis provides strategic and operational advice to portfolio companies that are at a critical growth stage in their development. For more information, visit www.novalislifesciences.com

To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.

Contact information

Dr. Andrew Plant
CEO
Animol Discovery, Inc.
andrew.plant@animol-discovery.com

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire



Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Midea Group releases its first-ever ESG brand story with an unexpected VIP visit highlighting its commitment to sustainability.29.3.2024 02:39:00 CET | Press release

Midea Group: This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240328526418/en/ Background: Midea Group, a leading global technology group, recently released its 2023 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report with ambitious sustainable development goals set for 2030. They include achieving over 500 megawatts of photovoltaic power generation, reducing greenhouse gas emission intensity (scopes 1 and 2) by 0.040, secure Energy Management System Certification for 50 factories, and achieve 100% carbon footprint accounting for major categories of smart home appliances. This is aligned with the Sustainable Development Report Standards of the Global Report Standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The new report and campaign focuses on four dimensions: Protect the Blue Planet, Build a Harmonious Community, Practice 'Bring Great Innovations to Life', and Jointly Create the Prosperous Ecology. The campaign: Midea’s ESG

DC Secretary Announces Annual Determinations Committees Outcome28.3.2024 21:14:00 CET | Press release

DC Administration Services, Inc. has today announced the composition of five regional Determinations Committees (DCs), effective from April 27, 2024. Voting Dealers (for all regions): Voting Non-Dealers (for all regions): Bank of America N.A. Citadel LLC Barclays Bank plc Elliott Management Corporation BNP Paribas Pacific Investment Management Company LLC Citibank, N.A. Deutsche Bank AG Goldman Sachs International JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Voting Dealer for the Americas, EMEA, AEJ, and Japan Determination Committees: Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. The process for selecting DC members is specified in the DC rules. The DC rules, along with more information about the Determinations Committees and what they do can be found at the Determinations Committees website: https://www.cdsdeterminationscommittees.org/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240328441002/en/Contact information Press Inquiries: Orlando Figueroa orlando.figueroa@citadelspv.com

Faster Recoveries, Improved Security: HTEC and G2 Risk Solutions Join Forces to Advance Bankruptcy Management28.3.2024 17:02:00 CET | Press release

HTEC, a global digital consulting, software engineering, and product development company, is announcing a strategic collaboration with G2 Risk Solutions (G2RS), the preeminent provider of end-to-end bankruptcy technology solutions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240328622816/en/ HTEC & G2 Risk Solutions Partnership (Photo: Business Wire) Under the agreement, G2RS will engage HTEC to incorporate its leading-edge technology into G2RS’ premier bankruptcy management platform. As the creators of the most comprehensive national bankruptcy database and the first bankruptcy management portal, G2RS is an industry pioneer. By adding HTEC’s premium engineering to the G2RS technology stack, G2RS will offer new and innovative functionalities to help clients expedite financial recoveries, increase data protection, and reduce operational inefficiencies in the bankruptcy management life cycle. “We are thrilled to be a part o

The reopening of the Yokohama Museum of Art adds another innovative and distinctive venue for events in Yokohama28.3.2024 16:00:00 CET | Press release

After extensive renovations, the iconic Yokohama Museum of Art has reopened its doors to visitors from all over the world. The museum’s reopening paves the way to new and closer collaboration with international events in Yokohama. This extraordinary venue is the ideal setting for a one-of-a-kind gathering, in part, supported by the Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau (hereinafter YCVB). The Yokohama Museum of Art Founded in 1989, the Yokohama Museum of Art collects over 14,000 works of art that reflect the many facets of life in Yokohama—past, present, and future. The reopening of the museum coincides with the Yokohama Triennale, an international exhibition featuring contemporary artists whose decentralized exhibits turn the entire metropolis into an art museum. The 8th Yokohama Triennale is being held from March 15 to June 9, 2024, with the Yokohama Museum of Art being a pivotal venue for the exhibition. With the museum firmly back on the map as Yokohama’s leading artistic venue, YC

LambdaTest Launches The Phoenix Project, an Employee Resource Group for Women28.3.2024 16:00:00 CET | Press release

LambdaTest, a leading cloud-based unified testing platform, announced the launch of The Phoenix Project, an Employee Resource Group (ERG) dedicated to supporting and promoting the success of its female employees. “LambdaTest is committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace where all employees feel valued and empowered to reach their full potential,” said Chandini Chopra, VP of People and Culture at LambdaTest. “The Phoenix Project is a critical step towards achieving this goal by providing a platform for professional development, networking, and mentorship, especially for our women employees.” The Phoenix Project Aims To: Offer professional development workshops, networking opportunities, and dedicated time off for women to participate in ERG initiatives. Provide mentorship programs connecting senior female employees with mentees. Promote leadership development among women within the company. Create a sense of community for women in the workplace. Leadership and

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye