Scholar Rock Secures $20 Million to Advance Novel Niche Modulators

Scholar Rock, a biotechnology company discovering and developing niche modulators that selectively target protein growth factors in the disease microenvironment, has announced a $20 million Series A financing.

Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance proprietary niche modulators from preclinical research toward clinical drug development. ARCH Venture Partners, a new investor, led the round with the participation of founding investors, Polaris Partners and Timothy Springer. Also participating in the round were new investors, EcoR1 Capital and The Kraft Group.

“This financing by an investor group with deep experience in the life sciences industry underscores the tremendous progress that the Scholar Rock team has made in establishing a novel paradigm in biologic drug discovery,” said Nagesh Mahanthappa, PhD, CEO and President of Scholar Rock.  “Our experienced leadership team is now ready to advance niche modulator therapeutics in important areas of unmet need such as fibrosis, musculoskeletal diseases, and autoimmunity.”

“Scholar Rock has assembled the expertise, technology and strategies to transform a powerful area of biology using niche modulators into the kind of new platform for drug development that we believe has the potential to build extraordinary value with  significant impact on major diseases,” said Kristina Burow, Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners.