BaroFold pulls in $12M for protein-refolding technology
BaroFold, a Boulder, Colo., biotech raised $12 million in a first round of funding. The company is developing PreEMT, a technology that uses high levels of fluid pressure to “unclump” biotech-drug proteins that have stuck together and to force proteins that have folded up incorrectly to unfold and refold into a proper configuration. The technology may be useful in boosting production yields of recombinant, or genetically engineered, proteins, which form the basis of many biotech drugs.
The financing was led by HBM BioVentures (Cayman)and Boulder Ventures, joined by the Peierls Foundation and other seed round investors. The round’s proceeds will fund the development of the company’s drug pipeline, including an experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis.
The company’s release is here (PDF).
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About the Author, David P. Hamilton
David Hamilton has been writing for VentureBeat LifeScience since April 2007. He formerly spent 14 years as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in its San Francisco and Tokyo bureaus. Prior to that, he spent several years as a reporter at Science Magazine and as a reporter/researcher for the New Republic, both in Washington.