Start Treeline Bio from the Shadow with $1B+ Elevation and 3 Cancer Drugs Appear in the Clinic
How does a biotech startup raise more than $1 billion in four years and say little publicly in the process? For tree biological science, silence is strategic. From the prying eyes, Treeline quietly built a pipeline that was most advanced in targeting cancer drugs, but addressed in new or possibly better ways. With the addition of $200 million in new injected funds to haul and plan in early clinical development, Treeline is now withdrawing curtains for some of its work.
The Watertown, Massachusetts-based company said Wednesday that the new financing is an extension of Treeline's Series A funding. It includes a broad group that are well known to buy Treeline’s vision of reimagining funds and building another drug discovery company.
Treeline co-founder and CEO Josh Bilenker said in a blog post Wednesday that emerging biotechnology is often the milestone that provides milestones. Taking this approach will lead Treeline to make choices to reach the next milestone and continue to focus on leading programs. Instead, Treeline asks investors to fund “repeated inventions” that support multiple but complementary programs. This approach gives flexibility to the flexibility of a comprehensive veterinary program before going to the clinic and giving up struggling veterinarians.
“We gave up on the program because we couldn’t find good chemistry because we had negative or mixed data in the efficacy model because there was no good efficacy model because we didn’t achieve enough [absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion]because our concerns about safety continue to be problematic, and because other companies get there first and get great data,” Billenk wrote. “Having the luxury of moving forward from the program is probably the biggest gift we grant to us by grants. ”
Treeline disclosed three cancer plans on Wednesday, two of which were found internally and the other had been licensed. TLN-121 found internally is a degrader for Bcl6, a naturally occurring protein that certain lymphoma cells use to settle will prevent their growth and survival. A phase 1 study was recruitment in patients with B- and T-cell lymphomas.
The second disclosed internal internal plan is TLN-372, an inhibitor of KRAS, a difficult drug mutation that is difficult to promote cancer growth. Amgen's Lumakras and Bristol Myers Squibb's Krazati are both FDA-approved small molecule inhibitors of specific KRAS mutations called KRAS G12C. TLN-372 is a pan-kras small molecule inhibitor that blocks multiple KRAS variants. Treeline is conducting a Phase 1 study that recruits patients with solid tumors who alter KRAS. The startup has competition in this field. Other companies developing pan-Kras inhibitors include Revolutionary Drugs, Astras Drugs, Amgen and Bridgebio Oncology Therapy.
The third disclosed stripe program is TLN-254, which is licensed from Jiansu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals. Hengrui has proposed this drug in a phase 2 test in refractory lymphoma. Small molecules inhibit EZH2, a protein that is overexpressed or mutated in cancer. Treeline is testing TLN-254 in a Phase 1 study that recruits patients with peripheral and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. The fourth plan for the undisclosed target can be investigated for new drug applications in early 2026.
Treeline's drug discovery method combines laboratory and computational methods. Although other startups claim the same, Bilenker said Treeline is not focused on specific therapeutic areas or platform technologies. Instead, Treeline pursues carefully selected goals with the best technology, he said.
Bilenker's experience includes the founding of Loxo Oncology, which Eli Lilly acquired in 2019 for $8 billion. Another co-founder of Treeline is Chief Science Officer Jeff Engelman, former head of global oncology at the Novartis Institute of Biomedical Sciences. While both oncology experience is reflected in the Treeline pipeline, the startup says on its website that cancer research can provide work for it in other therapeutic areas. The company pursues these areas, such as autoimmune and neurological diseases, “when we think we have unique advantages.”
According to Massachusetts Company records, Treeline was founded in early 2021 and is located in Watertown. The startup revealed in 2022 that KKR revealed its information on its investor group with a “significant capital commitment”. At the time, securities applications indicated that the company raised more than $261 million.
So far, Treeline says it has raised about $1.1 billion. Investors in startups include AI Life Sciences, a branch of Access Industries; Arch Venture Partners; Circle; GV; KKR; T. Rowe Price Associates’s recommended account; Ajax Health/Zeus; Castin Capital; Fidelity Management & Research Corporation; Aisle Capital; Rock Springs Capital; and Exor.
Photos of Treeline Biosciences
