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Constellation Pharmaceuticals Closes $22
Million in Series B Funding
-Proceeds to Broaden
Leading Epigenetics Product Engine and Advance Pipeline
towards the Clinic-
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – June 2, 2010 – Constellation
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the leading biopharmaceutical
company focused on discovering and developing new drugs
targeting epigenetic regulation of the human genome,
today announced that it has raised $22 million in a
Series B financing round. The financing round was led by
SR One, the independent corporate healthcare venture
capital arm of GlaxoSmithKline, with participation from
existing investors Third Rock Ventures, The Column
Group, Venrock, and Altitude Life Science Ventures. This
Series B financing brings the total amount of capital
raised by Constellation in the two years since its
founding to $54 million.
Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance the
development of Constellation’s pipeline of compounds
towards the clinic. These funds will also enable
Constellation to continue applying its innovative
epigenetics product engine to probe multiple classes of
novel drug targets involved in chromatin regulation and
disease.
"We are delighted to have SR One, a premier venture
capital investor, lead the Series B round. Their
investment highlights the value created since our Series
A financing round and the transformative potential of
epigenetics as a platform for novel therapeutics” said
Mark A. Goldsmith, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief
Executive Officer of Constellation Pharmaceuticals. “Our
differentiated ability to develop a pipeline of drugs
against a broad range of epigenetic target classes is a
core feature of our business strategy, and this
investment allows us to accelerate our efforts to bring
these discoveries to the patient.”
About Constellation Pharmaceuticals
Constellation Pharmaceuticals is the leading
biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and
development of novel therapeutics in the emerging field
of epigenetics, a new field of science that focuses on
selective regulators of gene function and expression.
The Company’s academic founders represent the core
thought leaders in epigenetics and are responsible for
numerous key advances in the field. Constellation
Pharmaceuticals is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
For more information, please visit the company's website
at
www.constellationpharma.com.
Constellation’s Board of Directors include: Mark Levin,
Partner, Third Rock Ventures; David Goeddel, Ph.D.,
Partner, The Column Group; Anthony Evnin, Ph.D.,
Partner, Venrock; Tom Maniatis, Ph.D., Isidore S.
Edelman Professor and Chairman, Department of
Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia
University; Bob Tepper, M.D., Partner, Third Rock
Ventures; and Mark A. Goldsmith, M.D., Ph.D., President
and CEO, Constellation Pharmaceuticals.
About Epigenetics
Epigenetics is an exciting new field of biology that
involves the study of chemical modifications of both DNA
and of its packaging proteins (“chromatin”), which are
collectively called the ‘epigenome’. The genome, or DNA,
is the “blueprint” for the human body, consisting of
thousands of genes, which are the fundamental units of
information necessary for normal cell growth and
development. The epigenome plays an important role in
regulating the expression of genes, that is, switching
genes on or off – or in the case of disease, for
switching genes on or off incorrectly. This new field of
epigenetic science provides the opportunity to create a
broad new class of human therapeutics targeting enzymes
that chemically modify DNA or chromatin and therefore
influence gene expression.
Contact:
Kathryn Morris
The Yates Network
Tel: 845-635-9828
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