11 February 2022 - - Canada-based neo-biotech Cyclica Inc has launched Perturba Therapeutics Inc. a spin out from the Stagljar Lab at the University of Toronto, Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, the company said.

Perturba is advancing a pipeline of assets from undrugged protein-protein interactions.

Only a small subset of biologically important drug targets are currently being explored within the pharma industry.

Perturba is integrating Cyclica's AI-augmented proteome-wide drug design technology with two first-in-class live cell-based assays from the Stagljar Lab.

With this integrated AI-augmented drug design and empirical phenotypic approach, Perturba is developing precision therapies that modulate PPIs and PPI-mediated biological processes with a focus on difficult-to-treat cancers.

Perturba will initially focus on advancing two EGFR triple mutant inhibitors for non-small cell lung cancer, and four programs targeting small GTPases for various intractable cancers.

Seasoned drug developer Rick Panicucci, PhD, SVP at BridgeBio Pharma and a long time advisor at Cyclica has been appointed as non-executive chairman of Perturba to help oversee the company's strategy.

Su Dharmawardhane Flanagan, PhD, Tony Hunter, PhD and Ming Tsao, MD, have been appointed to Perturba's Scientific advisory board.

Cyclica said it will provide initial funding for Perturba and will seek external funding from strategic partners as required.

An integrated oncology focused biotech company for unaddressable and undrugged targets.

Founded in 2021 as a venture between Cyclica and the Stagljar Lab at the University of Toronto, Perturba integrates Cyclica's AI-augmented drug discovery platform with sensitive, live-cell drug screening assays, MaMTH-DS and SIMPL from the Stagljar lab.

Perturba is developing precision therapies at scale that modulate PPIs and PPI-mediated biological processes.

Cyclica advances molecules that embrace the complexity of disease. A neo-biotech whose work spans dozens of collaborations with large pharma, biotech and several joint ventures.

The Stagljar lab at the University of Toronto is a lab in the field of proteomics/chemical genomics, developing high-throughput technologies to facilitate the study of the protein-protein interactions of various human membrane proteins involved in cancer and rare genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis.

The Stagljar lab is currently directing major proteomics/chemical genomics projects to map how integral membrane proteins interact to produce either healthy or diseased cells, to identify novel therapeutic targets, and to screen for novel drugs using artificial intelligence platforms, in particular to target lung, colon, breast and pancreatic cancer.

In close collaboration with medicinal chemists and clinical investigators, the Stagljar lab investigates the molecular mechanisms behind challenging, unexplained observations on drugs and on pathological events.

The Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research is an interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Toronto in which scientists make fundamental discoveries in biology to improve health.

Founded in 2005, the Centre is globally recognized as a leading biomedical research hub thanks to our researchers' landmark discoveries in genetics, stem cell biology and the molecular basis of disease, as well as tools in large-scale data analysis.