Dewpoint Therapeutics’ research into a new realm of biology based on how tiny droplets within cells lead to disease has led to partnerships with several big pharmaceutical companies, including Bayer and Pfizer. The company’s preclinical drug pipeline currently spans 20 programs, and it now has $150 million to bring some of those potential medicines closer to their first tests in humans.

Softbank led the Series C round of funding announced Thursday.

The droplets that are Dewpoint’s focus are called biomolecular condensates. These organelles don’t have membranes, but they do hold concentrations of proteins and nucleic acids. Within the crowded cellular environment, condensates organize themselves and play a role in a variety of cellular activities. But in some cases, condensates don’t function properly. For example, they may keep hold of proteins that are needed elsewhere in the cell, or they may keep out proteins needed for critical processes.

Boston-based Dewpoint aims to resolve condensate dysfunction. It calls its drug candidates condensate modulators, or c-mods. The company says c-mods work by preventing condensates from sequestering proteins and by driving key components back into these organelles. These drugs are intended to restore the properties characteristic of healthy condensate function. Dewpoint discovers its c-mods with a platform technology that includes the use of artificial intelligence and machine-learning image analysis to visualize biomolecular condensates, as well as high-throughput screening of compounds to identify the ones that have an effect on condensates in particular diseases.

Bayer was the first company to partner with Dewpoint. Ten months after the biotech launched in 2019, Bayer agreed to pay up to $100 million toward research that could lead to new drugs for gynecological and cardiovascular diseases. The following year, Merck committed up to $305 million to Dewpoint in a pact focused on developing new HIV therapies. Pfizer signed on as a partner a little more than a year ago; that alliance is focused on myotonic dystrophy type 1, a rare muscle disorder.

Including its drug research partnerships, Dewpoint says its pipeline consists of 20 programs spanning four therapeutic areas: cancer, neuromuscular disease, cardiopulmonary disorders, and virology. Without offering any timeline estimates or specifying any disease targets, Dewpoint said it aims to use the new financing to advance multiple programs through to the filing of investigational new drug applications.

Softbank invested in Dewpoint from its Vision Fund 2. The other new Dewpoint investors that joined the latest funding round are General Catalyst, Mubadala Capital, 3E Bioventures, Mirae Asset Capital, and NS Investment. Earlier investors also participated in the round, including Leaps by Bayer, Polaris Partners, Samsara BioCapital, ARCH Venture Partners, EcoR1 Capital, and Maverick Ventures.

Photo by Flickr user Gorupka via a Creative Commons license