Congruence Therapeutics, a biotechnology company that uses computational and experimental drug discovery to develop small molecules for diseases of protein misfolding, announced on Thursday the close of an extension to its Series A financing, bringing the total amount raised to over $65 million. This funding round was led by new investor BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund, with participation from current investors Amplitude Ventures, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, OrbiMed, Investissement Quebec (IQ), SilverArc, and others.
Dr. Clarissa Desjardins, CEO of Congruence, expressed her gratitude for the support the company has received from investors. She said, “This financing provides further evidence of the emerging role that technology must play to drive innovation in biotechnology. We are proud to be pioneers in tech-enabled drug discovery with the support of high-quality investors who share our commitment to developing computational tools that will re-invent the way that drugs are discovered.”
The additional funding will be used to accelerate Congruence’s Revenir platform and pipeline of first-in-class and best-in-class programs for genetic, rare, and neurological diseases towards the clinic.
Congruence was founded in 2021 by Dr. Desjardins, who was previously the founder and CEO of Clementia Pharmaceuticals. Clementia developed therapies for rare pediatric bone diseases and was sold to Ipsen in early 2019 for $1.3 billion. Congruence’s team includes experienced “drug hunters” in rare disease strategy and clinical development, computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and business development.
Michelle Scarborough, Managing Partner of Thrive Venture Fund at BDC Capital, praised Congruence’s team and discovery platform, saying, “With an incredible team led by Clarissa and a first-of-its-kind discovery platform, Congruence will quickly emerge as a leading biotechnology company who is well-positioned to disrupt traditional drug discovery and deliver real benefits to patients. We are proud to lead this investment round and look forward to supporting Congruence through its next phase of growth.”
Congruence’s ground-breaking discovery engine, Revenir, captures the biophysical features of functional proteins and their pathogenic counterparts to discover functional allosteric and cryptic pockets that can lead to small molecule hits at unprecedented speed.
