Octant Bio

About The Fund

Octant Bio is a pioneering investment fund that specializes in the discovery and development of next-generation small molecule therapeutics. They focus on drugging cellular mechanisms, specifically those that cause disease, by binding to and modulating the function of target proteins, rather than just binding to them. Their approach is to understand and correct diseases associated with protein misfolding and mistrafficking. Utilizing high-throughput synthetic biology, Octant Bio builds custom sensors in human cells to unravel and model the intricate cellular mechanisms that drive disease. For example, they examine how a drug candidate interacting with a misfolded protein impacts cellular function. To engineer small molecules that can modulate biological mechanisms, they engage in high-throughput explorations of chemical diversity within living cells. Central to their strategy is the use of barcoded multiplexing, which allows massively parallel high-throughput drug discovery and the quantification of subtle effect sizes across thousands of experiments. This capability is essential for fostering direct-to-biology chemistry and generating large datasets for AI/ML algorithms. Octant Bio leverages big data and advanced AI/ML pipelines and tools to process and accelerate its drug discovery platform. Their proprietary chemical biology datasets offer unique insights by analyzing millions of data points, which aid in advancing drug programs. They aim to be at the forefront of creating a new universe of medicine by navigating the complexity of biology and chemistry and developing innovative solutions to combat diseases of protein misfolding and trafficking. Octant Bio's operations are led by technologists and builders who strive to find simple and elegant solutions to complex problems through collaborative work among scientists, engineers, and operators, all geared towards building a unique type of company dedicated to patient-centric drug discovery. Their investment specialization includes Series A and Seed funding within the software industry, emphasizing Web Marketplaces, SaaS, and other related fields.