ProLynx raises $70 million to develop its long-lasting weight-loss drug pipeline

The biotechnology firm ProLynx has raised $70 million in a series A fundraising to develop weight-loss drugs that require less frequent dosing. ProLynx was founded in 2010 by two chemists, Daniel Santi, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who has cofounded multiple biotechs, and Gary Ashley, who has worked in the industry for more than 20 years.The start-up’s technology can be used to extend the half-life of a large range of drugs, including small molecules and antibodies. ProLynx has made a long-acting version of a prodrug of the topoisomerase 1 inhibitor SN-38, found in irinotecan and sacituzumab govitecan, and that molecule has started clinical trials to treat rare central nervous system cancers.To extend the half life of drugs, ProLynx generates what is essentially a three-part molecule combining a microsphere hydrogel carrier attached to the drug of interest by a tunable release linker.“These linkers can be tailored,” says CEO Chris Boulton, who joined ProLynx recently. “They’re like little clocks, and you can design how quickly you want them to degrade and release the active drug.”There is potential to extend the half-life of drugs even further—to 90 days or longer, Boulton says. “We don’t see that anywhere else.”ProLynx has decided to focus its pipeline on extending the life of peptide drugs designed for weight loss, such as glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, as the body breaks them down quickly. Although other companies in the space, including Camurus and Ascendis Pharma, are looking to extend the dosing period of