By Business & Finance 
Sitryx is a biopharmaceutical company focused on regulating cell metabolism to develop disease-modifying therapeutics in immuno-oncology and immuno-inflammation.
Sitryx, a new biopharmaceutical company focused on regulating cell metabolism to develop disease-modifying therapeutics in immuno-oncology and immuno-inflammation, has closed its Series A financing round having raised $30 million. Chair of Biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin, Luke O’Neill, is one of the co-founders.
The company, founded with seed funding from SV Health investors, raised the funding from a syndicate of specialist international healthcare investors co-led by SV Health Investors and Sofinnova Partners and that also included Longwood Fund and the global healthcare company GSK. The investment will be used to develop disease-modifying therapies in immuno-oncology and immuno-inflammation.
Leveraging world-class scientific expertise for Sitryx
Immunometabolism is a fast-emerging area of investigation into the role of metabolic pathways in immune cell function. Changes to these pathways are pivotal in the development of a number of severe diseases, including a range of cancer and autoimmune conditions. Correcting immune cell function and/or inhibiting tumour cell growth through immunometabolic therapies has the potential to offer key, complementary and highly differentiated approaches to treating disease.
Sitryx is leveraging the world-leading scientific expertise of its founders in the field of immunometabolism to address a broad range of immunometabolic targets. Through differentiated chemistry approaches, including small molecules, proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTACS) and topical formulations, Sitryx has built a portfolio of projects addressing oncology and immuno-inflammatory indications. Sitryx’s proprietary science is supported through close working with GSK’s drug discovery and chemistry experts. This includes access to certain GSK technologies and the licensing of intellectual property, including chemical matter, from GSK. GSK’s interest in Sitryx arose from work within the Immunology Network, a unique open collaboration initiative connecting GSK to the work of academic scientists and their novel immunology research.
Sitryx founders
Sitryx was co-founded by a team of world-leading scientists who have contributed significantly to the field. The co-founders include Chair of Biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin, Luke O’Neill, who said: “I’m delighted that my sabbatical in GSK has resulted in the formation of this new company in what is a tremendously exciting area.”
The other co-founders comprise Houman Ashrafian, Partner at SV Health Investors; Jonathan Powell, Professor of Oncology and Associate Director, Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins University; Jeff Rathmell, Professor of Cancer Biology and Director, Vanderbilt Center for Immunobiology; Michael Rosenblum, Assistant Professor, UCSF School of Medicine; and Paul Peter Tak, former Chief Immunology Officer and Senior Vice President at GSK and Professor of Medicine at Amsterdam University Medical Centre.
