Modifi Bio

United States - New Haven, Connecticut

• 17/10/2023
• Seed
• $4,300,000

A bold and innovative biotech, Modifi Bio is developing a novel oncology therapeutics platform that exploits DNA defects in a wide range of cancer cells, and which aims to disrupt conventional oncology drug development.

This entirely new approach to fighting cancer is based on our ability to modify tumor DNA in a manner that is irreparable to cancer cells, without negatively impacting healthy cells. Specifically, we have created a new class of small molecules which directly target DNA, thereby avoiding the need to engage protein targets directly, which exploit tumor-associated DNA repair defects. Leveraging emerging discoveries from the co-founders’ laboratories recently published in Science, our strategy has already been validated in a wide range of tumor types, both in vitro and in vivo.

The founding team includes world-renowned scientists, clinicians, and experienced biotech entrepreneurs, united by a shared vision to improve the lives of cancer patients. The core technology was discovered jointly by Seth Herzon, Milton Harris ’29 PhD Professor of Chemistry at Yale University, and Ranjit Bindra, Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Therapeutic Radiology at the Yale School of Medicine. Together, the founding team brings deep expertise in synthetic chemistry, DNA repair, and translational research in oncology to Modifi Bio, and they are deeply involved with the company moving forward, and they are committed to its growth.

Located in heart of New Haven, CT’s burgeoning biotech hub, and within walking distance of Yale School of Medicine, the Modifi Bio laboratories are the founding tenant of the Elm City BioScience Center, a newly renovated, state-of-the-art, 110,000 square foot facility designed to support emerging biotechnology companies.

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Ranjit BindraCo Founder

United States - New Haven, Connecticut

I am a physician-scientist and biotech entrepreneur at the Yale School of Medicine, and I am the Scientific Director of the Yale Brain Tumor Center.

Clinically, I treat adult and pediatric brain tumors, as well as brain metastases.

In the laboratory, I run an R01-funded research program focused on synthetic lethal screening strategies to exploit DNA repair and metabolism defects in cancer, and we translate our work directly into Phase 0/I/II clinical trials. Our work has been published in numerous high-impact journals, including Nature, Science, Nature Genetics, Nature Communications, and Science Translational Medicine.

As a New Haven-based serial biotech entrepreneur, I am focused on the oncology therapeutics space, with a passion for building valuable companies.

Over the last 10 years, while full-time on faculty at Yale, I have co-founded four companies: Cybrexa Therapeutics, Alphina Therapeutics, Modifi Bio, and B3 Therapeutics.

In particular, we founded Cybrexa in 2016 as a virtual entity, which now has grown to 20+ employees at 5 Science Park, and it is now in Phase I trials with early signs of efficacy for its lead drug, CBX12. We recently closed a major partnership deal with Exelixis in Q4 of ‘22, which reflect our ability to continually drive value creation in our startups.

Across these four companies, I have raised over $100M of VC, angel, high-net worth, and non-dilutive (SBIR) capital, in Seed, Series A and Series B rounds of funding.

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ranjit-bindra-777b174/