PALO ALTO — Surf Bio, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company commercializing a novel drug stabilization platform, has landed a $16 million Series Seed round of funding. The financing was co-led by Breakout Ventures and the Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund (“PXV Fund”). The company plans to use the funds to advance its polymer-based drug delivery platform and accelerate the development of an ultra-rapid insulin for treatment of diabetes.
“Surf Bio’s novel stabilization platform holds the promise to enable pharmaceutical formulations that are not currently possible with today’s technologies,” said Bryan Mazlish, co-founder and CEO, Surf Bio. “Our technology enhances the stability of a broad set of biologics including peptides, vaccines, and monoclonal antibodies to retain or optimize desired pharmaceutical properties at higher concentrations and higher temperatures. This should enable favorably differentiated products that create new opportunities for how biologics are delivered in the future.”
“Surf Bio’s technology sits at the intersection of engineering, chemistry, and pharmaceutical development,” said Lindy Fishburne, Managing Partner, Breakout Ventures. “We are pleased to support the company as it advances its broadly applicable formulation technology across a range of therapeutic areas for the potentially large positive impact it may have on human health.”
“We are delighted to partner with Surf Bio in the development of its innovative formulation platform and novel ultra-rapid insulin,” said Ben Askew, PhD, Partner, PXV Fund for Perceptive Advisors. “The Surf Bio team is exceptionally positioned to extend the technologies created by their drug stabilization platform to treatments for numerous therapeutic areas including diabetes, oncology, infectious diseases, and gene therapy. The funds will accelerate the development of both platform and insulin programs and we look forward to the first-in-human results.”
In addition to its lead ultra-rapid insulin program, Surf Bio has established multiple, ongoing collaborations with leading multinational pharmaceutical companies. To date, demonstrated in-vitro and in-vivo safety and efficacy data has generated significant interest from partners to evaluate Surf Bio’s technology within their proprietary product pipelines. Proposed initial applications for the technology include increasing concentrations and reducing refrigeration dependence as well as enabling hard-to-formulate therapeutics.
The Surf Bio Board of Directors will consist of current members and founders, Bryan Mazlish and Jennifer Schneider, MD, as well as new additions, Lindy Fishburne and Ben Askew, PhD.
