cyclic-peptides
(2)
Indi Molecular
Indi Molecular is a Culver City, California biotech developing a synthetic alternative to antibodies called Protein Catalyzed Capture (PCC) agents - small, stable cyclic peptides built with click chemistry that bind protein targets with antibody-like specificity while behaving like small-molecule drugs. Spun out of Caltech chemist James Heath's lab in 2013, the company applies its platform to targeted oncology therapeutics and PET imaging agents, aiming to reach targets long considered undruggable, including KRAS G12D pancreatic cancer and ovarian cancer.
Insamo
Insamo is a Berkeley-based biotechnology company spun out of UC Berkeley that is building membrane-permeable, orally available macrocyclic peptides with antibody-like binding affinity. By pairing machine-learning-driven molecular design with ultra-high-throughput molecular biology and parallel synthetic chemistry, Insamo runs automated design-synthesize-test cycles that generate trillions of proprietary data points - aiming to turn today's injected biologics into pills and to hit drug targets long considered undruggable. The company launched publicly in February 2024 with a $12M seed round led by Playground Global, venBio, and Merck's MRL Ventures Fund.