Sep 21, 2021

Sept. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EMERYVILLE, Calif., Sept 21st 2022 -- Fauna Bio is a bio-based company that specializes in the development of Faunes. True Ventures, Boom Capital, Pacific 8 VentureS, BioMed Venture, Vibe Capital and Arcadia Science have partnered with LifeForce Capital to raise $9 million in Seed funding. Fauna Bio will utilize the new funds to expand its drug discovery platform Convergence while also accelerating the development of new therapeutic targets for human diseases across a broad range of indications. Fauna Bio exploits the power of comparative and functional genomics to provide better human disease treatments, such as neurologic, metabolic, fibrotic, and cardiovascular diseases, in order to identify better therapies for human diseases. The first version of Convergence examines gene expression data from hibernating mammals due to their extreme biology and their remarkable ability to reverse disease-causing traits. The platform has identified two compounds and four novel genetic targets currently under investigation for heart disease and related disorders, according to the platform. The firm works with Novo Nordisk on a target obesity discovery program. Fauna Bio has identified seven new genetic targets to reduce fibrosis, which is a key component of many chronic and debilitating diseases, including NASH and cardiovascular disease secondary to chronic kidney disease and diabetic cardiomyopathy. "Studying human biology and genetics alone has left us with many unanswered questions, gaps in knowledge, and without treatment to many serious diseases that could be assisted by looking outside our own species," said Ashley Zehnder, DVM, Ph.D., CEO of Fauna Bio. "After millions of years of evolution, animals have developed methods to naturally resist and heal from a variety of diseases that still plague humans. To improve health and wellness and, ultimately, longevity in humans, we are using these natural synergies between us and other mammals to help us maintain longevity." Bryan Burkey, Ph.D., has joined Fauna Bio as the Head of Therapeutics Discovery as it prepares for its internal pipeline toward clinical testing. Dr. Burkey is an experienced drug discovery and development professional who has led and contributed to a variety of activities, from target discovery to NDA filing. He led biology and translational pharmacology efforts for 23 years at Novartis Research, along with five years with Zafgen, Inc., and most recently was the Head of Systems Biology at Walden Biosciences. During his career, he developed knowledge in metabolic and cardiovascular pharmacology as well as safety assessment. Bryan excels in integrating information from in vitro target/pathway to in-vivo physiology/pharmacology to enable better drug development. The new investors in this funding round will leverage biotechnology and computational expertise to aid Fauna Bio's development and expansion into new disease areas. Lifeforce Capital invests in companies that are finding new ways to address the biggest healthcare problem, said John Noonan, LifeForce Capital's Managing Partner. "The all-female co-founding team at Fauna Bio demonstrates the cross-discipline collaboration the field of medicine needs to foster innovation and achieve real progress in finding new ways to treat serious diseases," she added. Fauna Bio is a biodiversity that is also active in the development of Faune Bio. Fauna Bio is developing new methods to treat human diseases such as cardiovascular, fibrotic, metabolic, and neurodegenerative diseases, by adopting mechanisms animals have developed for traits such causative hibernation and deep-diving. Fauna Bio is a consortium of three scientists with deep knowledge of the best science and resources in the field of non-model organisms. They collaborate to develop pre-clinical and early clinical testing for new therapeutics targeting human diseases. Visit www.faunabio.com to learn more about Faunana Bio. LifeForce Capital is a company that specializes in lifeForces Capital. Lifeforce Capital is a venture capital firm investing in healthcare's most slick software-driven businesses. We work with teams to improve care delivery at scale or enable significantly more efficient therapeutic development through computational biology, which can result in significant increase in efficiency. We establish close relationships with exceptional founding teams and provide sustained support as businesses expand, bringing to bear our deep healthcare investment, policy, clinical, and operational experience. Visit lifeforcecap.com or send an email to [email protected]. SOURCE Fauna Bio SURCE