29 July 2020 - - US-based drug discovery company MBX Biosciences has closed a USD 34.6m series A financing, the company said.

The financing was led by Frazier Healthcare Partners, with participation from OrbiMed, New Enterprise Associates, Indiana Philanthropic Venture Fund (IU PhV), Indiana Seed Fund III (managed by BioCrossroads) and Twilight Venture Partners II.

Proceeds of the financing will support MBX as it advances its preclinical pipeline of peptide therapeutic candidates directed at clinically validated molecular targets.

The company is built upon the medicinal expertise and chemical technologies invented at the Indiana University laboratory of Professor Richard DiMarchi, Ph.D., co-founder and chief scientific officer of MBX.

The company seeks to address rare endocrine disorders with substantial unmet medical need.

In conjunction with the financing, MBX has appointed three new members to its board of directors: Patrick Heron, managing partner of Frazier Healthcare Partners; Carl Gordon, Ph.D., managing partner of OrbiMed; and Ed Mathers, general partner of New Enterprise Associates.

MBX Biosciences is a biotechnology company creating therapies for rare endocrine diseases. Members of MBX's leadership team previously collaborated in the creation of endocrine drugs (Humalog, Forteo) and three Indiana-based companies (Marcadia, Calibrium and MB2).

MBX is strengthened by proprietary technology and drug candidates licensed from the DiMarchi Indiana University laboratory.

The company is supported by investment from leading life science investors that include Frazier Healthcare Partners, OrbiMed, and New Enterprise Associates.