A New Haven biotechnology company announced it has raised $33 million to advance experimental cancer treatments that use engineered RNA to attack tumor cells.
Cloverleaf Bio, a Yale University spinout, is developing therapies based on transfer RNA, or tRNA, which helps cells produce proteins. Its technology is designed to disrupt that process in cancer cells while limiting damage to healthy tissue.
The company said the funding will support early-stage human testing of a potential liver cancer treatment and preclinical development of a colorectal cancer therapy.
The investment round was led by 4BIO Capital and included venture arms affiliated with pharmaceutical companies AbbVie, Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim. Draper Associates, Mission BioCapital and the American Cancer Society’s BrightEdge investment fund also participated, according to Cloverleaf.
The company said its lead drug candidate has shown promising results in laboratory and animal studies, including against cancer cells resistant to existing treatments. Those findings have not yet been confirmed in human clinical trials.
The company was founded by CEO Austin Draycott, Chief Scientific Officer Cole Lewis and Yale professor Wendy Gilbert.
