May 26, 2021 -- Engine Biosciences has raised $43 million to advance its drug discovery and development platform, which uses next-generation combinatorial genetics to decipher genetic codes. The company will use the funds to expand its portfolio of precision oncology therapeutics, prepare for its first clinical programs, and scale its proprietary technology platform.
Engine's platform allows researchers to uncover the gene interactions and biological networks underlying diseases to generate insights for precision medicine applications, according to the firm.
Engine's foundational technologies include NetMAPPR, a searchable biology platform that finds gene combinations and drug targets integral to diseases, and combinatorial genetics en masse (CombiGEM), which uses combinatorial CRISPR technology to enable experimental confirmation of how genes and gene combinations relate to disease.
Initially, Engine will focus on oncology applications by developing targeted therapies for genetically defined patient populations in treating liver, ovarian, colorectal, and breast cancers.
The oversubscribed series A funding was led by Polaris Partners.