Advancing precision medicine with molecular glues
Magnet Biomedicine’s modular TrueGlue™ technology enables the systematic discovery of molecular glues towards the treatment of human disease.
Our technology builds upon the discoveries of our Scientific Founders, who provided the seminal observations on molecular glues and have explored them for over 30 years.
THE SCIENCE
TrueGlues are small molecules that localize drug effects to disease-relevant targets in complex with tissue enriched “presenter” proteins
Magnet is advancing precision medicine through rational selection of protein pairs and systematic design of monovalent molecular glues. Combining the benefits of small molecule drugs with the high specificity of antibodies, TrueGlues offer the potential to address the most challenging targets in a tissue localized manner.
Since their discovery more than three decades ago, molecular glues have demonstrated vast potential to treat human disease. Recent advancements in the field have largely focused on targeted protein degradation, leaving the expansive potential of molecular glues untapped. Magnet is reimagining what’s possible with molecular glues by venturing beyond known protein-protein interactions and analyzing the broad protein landscape to pair target proteins with endogenous presenter proteins for maximum therapeutic impact.
Uniquely enabled by its platform capabilities, Magnet is pioneering the discovery of novel molecular glue medicines to address a range of indications with high unmet need, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and immune disorders.
Rationally designed TrueGlues localize drug effects to disease-relevant tissues, providing unique opportunities to maximize the therapeutic index by minimizing on-target-off-tissue toxicity. TrueGlues offer opportunities to induce biological synergy, target historically undruggable proteins, and to mimic monoclonal antibodies—enabling small molecule inhibition of extracellular targets.
OUR TECHNOLOGY
Building upon recent advances in proteomics, screening, and bioinformatics, we believe the time is now to execute on this long-standing goal of rational molecular glue discovery
Our TrueGlue discovery platform combines state-of-the-art screening technologies utilizing diverse chemical libraries and human-biology-driven target selection. Our process integrates diverse streams of in-house and external data to discover and exploit novel molecular glue mechanisms of action. Magnet’s TrueGlue technology can be applied in an indication-agnostic manner to discover molecular glues with a wide range of target modulation, drug-like properties, and selectivity.
OUR PEOPLE
Brian Safina, Ph.D.
President & Chief Scientific OfficerBret Williams, Ph.D.
Vice President of BiologyMatthew Hayward, Ph.D.
Vice President of Drug DiscoveryJennifer Franklin
Vice President of Administration & OperationsKristina Burow
Managing Director at ARCH Venture PartnersThomas Cahill, M.D., Ph.D.
Founder and Managing Partner at Newpath PartnersRamnik Xavier, M.D., Ph.D.
Scientific Advisory Board ChairBenjamin F. Cravatt, Ph.D.
Founder & AdvisorDavid A. Spiegel, M.D., Ph.D.
Founder & AdvisorMichael Rosbash, Ph.D.
Founder & AdvisorRicha Saxena, Ph.D.
Founder & AdvisorStuart Schreiber, Ph.D.
Founder & AdvisorChelsea Ankeny
Office ManagerAustin Carr, Ph.D.
ProteomicsXiao Chen, Ph.D.
BiologyYiQun Chen
BiologyJessica Gasser, Ph.D.
BiologyShubhroz Gill, Ph.D.
BiologyBruce Hua, Ph.D.
ChemistryLiam Hudson, Ph.D.
ChemistryAnita Kim
Lab OperationsChueh-Ling Kuo, Ph.D.
Biomolecular DiscoveryJason Lowe, Ph.D.
ChemistryAlyssa Lutservitz, MS
InformaticsAshish Maurya, Ph.D.
BiologyFrancesca Pisanzio
BiologyJames Ralff
Compound ManagementAndrew Reidenbach, Ph.D.
Biomolecular DiscoveryDavid Rhee, Ph.D.
ProteomicsLuke Stamatakis
Finance & AccountingTom Tian, Ph.D.
BiologyTiffany Tsang, Ph.D.
BiologyGo Watanabe, Ph.D.
Protein ProductionHsin-Lan Wen, Ph.D.
BiologyCAREERS
Magnet Biomedicine is building a world-class team to unleash the scientific breakthroughs and expertise of our Founders.
We are looking for creative, thoughtful, science-first innovators to join our collaborative team. Come help us realize the potential of molecular glues to achieve the broadest possible impact for patients.
Click the job openings to learn more.
About Magnet Biomedicine
Magnet Biomedicine is a fast-paced, collaborative, venture-backed startup developing rationale approaches to molecular glue discovery with our TrueGlueTM Discovery Platform in the pursuit of therapies across multiple disease areas. Our mission is to generate novel protein-protein interactions to modulate target functions, thereby revolutionizing the field of targeted therapeutics and drug discovery. We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Ph.D. computational chemist to join our dynamic team. Founded by Stuart Schreiber, Michael Rosbash, Ben Cravatt, Richa Saxena, and David Spiegel, Magnet Biomedicine relies heavily on cutting-edge ideas from human biology, genetics, and screening. We offer a competitive compensation package as well as comprehensive benefits. This is a full-time position in Boston, MA. Magnet Biomedicine is headquartered at 321 Harrison Avenue.
About the job
We are seeking an experienced computational chemist with a strong background in structure-based drug design and drug discovery to join our growing team. In this newly created role, you will be closely integrated in a cross-functional drug discovery team, making substantial intellectual contributions to program direction, molecular design, and synthetic priority. You will have the opportunity to create the computational function in-house and be able to set up capabilities and resources as you see fit. This opportunity will make a significant impact on the scientific direction of the company.
Key responsibilities
- Create and drive the computational chemistry strategy by utilizing state of the art technologies that complement and expand our structure-based drug discovery engine to discover novel molecular glues.
- Creatively apply predictive tools to prioritize compound synthesis, solve drug discovery challenges, and accelerate the time to a drug candidate.
- Develop cheminformatics methods to support all stages of the drug discovery process including virtual screening, hit identification, and lead optimization.
- Develop and apply both novel and precedented machine learning methodology to inform programs at all stages of discovery, and to the prediction and optimization of ADMET and physiochemical properties.
- Other duties, as assigned.
Qualifications
- Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry, Computational Biology, Biophysics, or a related discipline and 5+ years industry experience in pharma or biotech setting
- Experience operating in a multidisciplinary drug discovery team environment
- Demonstrated expertise in structure-based drug design
- Fluent in chemistry in order to influence project and compound design and productively engage with medicinal chemists and other discovery scientists
- Deep understanding of medicinal/computational chemistry principles of ligand and structure-based design, DMPK principles, and multi-parameter optimization
- Demonstrated expertise applying a wide variety of modern computational chemistry methodologies
- Deep expertise in physics-based modeling/ free energy perturbation calculations
- Experience with molecular glues (preferred but not necessary)
- Prior experience setting up computational chemistry capabilities
Please apply at careers@magnetbio.com.
About Magnet Biomedicine
Magnet Biomedicine is a fast-paced, collaborative, venture-backed startup developing rational approaches to molecular glue discovery. Magnet’s TrueGlueTM Discovery Platform enables the discovery and development of fit-for-purpose molecular glue strategies to target a diverse array of target classes. Our mission is to generate novel protein-protein interactions to modulate target functions, thereby revolutionizing the field of targeted therapeutics and drug discovery. We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced, full-time BS/MS level cell and molecular biologist to join our dynamic team, based out of 321 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA. We offer a competitive compensation package as well as comprehensive benefits.
Job description
Principal Research Associate/Associate Scientist, Cell Biology
As a Principal Research Associate/Associate Scientist on the biology team at Magnet Biomedicine, you will play a pivotal role in designing, executing, and interpreting experiments to develop assays for modulating protein-protein interactions using small molecules. This position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the development of Magnet’s next-generation TrueGlue therapies. You will conduct phenotypic cell-based assays, enzymatic assays, binding experiments, in addition to biochemical and cellular screens. You will collaborate with a team of passionate scientists to discover and develop molecular glue therapeutics.
Key Responsibilities
- Plan and execute cellular and biochemical assays (enzyme activity assays, growth and viability assays, HTRF, etc.).
- Perform and contribute to multi-plexed HTS screening assays.
- Lead CRISPR-Cas9 perturbations and downstream analysis.
- Evaluate protein-protein interactions through NanoBiT, IP-MS, ALPHAscreen, etc.
- Large scale proteomic sample preparation
- Perform cell line engineering and QC.
- Reporter and phenotypic assay development and implementation.
- Maintain impeccable experimental records in an ELN.
- Independently identify and solve technical experimental problems.
- Collaborate closely with all members of the Magnet team.
- Other duties, as assigned.
Required qualifications and skills
- Bachelors or Masters degree in biology or related discipline and 3-5+ years experience in a biotech or pharmaceutical setting
- Experience in human cell culture techniques for diverse cell types, including cell line engineering and QC
- Expertise in cellular and molecular biology, including reporter systems and phenotypic assays
- Ability to perform meticulous experimental planning, execution, and analysis
- Strong analytical mindset and knowledge of relevant statistical methods
- Intellectual curiosity and a positive, collegial attitude
- Expertise with lentiviral packaging and transduction to generate engineered cell systems
- Ability to work at scale in 384-well format; handle/expand cells for HTS and follow-up experiments
- Experience in oncology and/or immunology, with a basic understanding of the human genetics in those areas and target dependency
- Hands-on experience with small-molecule binding/inhibition assays
Preferred qualifications
- Experience with B and T cell models
- Experience with molecular glue therapies or bifunctional molecules
- Proficiency in confocal and fluorescent microscopy
- Working knowledge of DNA-encoded library screening
- Setup and execution of proteomic workflows and sample prep
- Experience with HTRF, AlphaLISA, and bioluminescence assays
- Propagation of primary cells
- Background in protein biochemistry
- Please apply at careers@magnetbio.com.
NEWS
Magnet Biomedicine Emerges from Stealth with $50 Million to Advance Rational Approach to Molecular Glues with TrueGlue™ Discovery Platform
09.19.2023
Company’s TrueGlue™ discovery platform leverages cutting-edge technology to identify next-generation molecular glues that harness approaches beyond protein degradation
Series A financing co-led by Newpath Partners and ARCH Venture Partners
Co-founded by molecular glue pioneer Stuart Schreiber, and world-renowned scientists Michael Rosbash, Benjamin Cravatt, Richa Saxena, and David Spiegel
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., September 19, 2023 — Magnet Biomedicine, a biotechnology company advancing molecular glue discovery with rational selection and design, today announced a $50 million Series A financing co-led by founding and initial investor, Newpath Partners, and ARCH Venture Partners. Magnet is reimagining what is achievable with molecular glues by looking beyond known protein–protein interactions and analyzing the broad protein landscape to pair target proteins with rationally selected presenter proteins to drive therapeutic effects.
The financing will support Magnet’s differentiated approach to the discovery and development of TrueGlues™—compounds that induce cooperative protein–protein interactions. The investment will further enable advancement of its diverse portfolio of programs spanning several indications, including cardiovascular disease, oncology, and immune disorders.
A Rational Approach to Molecular Glues
Magnet was founded by world-leading molecular glue researcher Stuart Schreiber, Ph.D., 2017 Nobel Laureate Michael Rosbash, Ph.D., chemoproteomics pioneer Benjamin Cravatt, Ph.D., human geneticist Richa Saxena, Ph.D., and chemical biologist David Spiegel, M.D., Ph.D. The company is led by President and Chief Scientific Officer, Brian Safina, Ph.D.
“Molecular glues offer expansive potential to transform human medicine. Recent advancements, however, have been narrowly focused on tangential approaches such as degradation, leaving much of the potential of true molecular glues untapped,” said Stuart Schreiber, Ph.D., Scientific Co-founder of Magnet. “Technological advancement and innovation in proteomics, high-throughput screening, and bioinformatics are fueling renewed interest in molecular glues—bringing opportunities for rational selection and design of clinically impactful molecular glues within our scientific reach.”
Magnet’s TrueGlue discovery platform combines state-of-the-art screening technologies using proprietary and diverse chemical libraries and human-biology-driven target selection to identify TrueGlues. These small molecules harness approaches beyond protein degradation and offer notable benefits such as restricting drug effects to disease-relevant tissues to avoid toxicities, inducing biological synergy on defined targets, mimicking monoclonal antibodies, and targeting historically undruggable proteins. Magnet is initially progressing TrueGlues to address diseases strongly supported by human biology, with clinically and genetically validated targets and clear opportunities to improve treatment options for patients.
“Our TrueGlue discovery platform enables us to take a broad view of the protein landscape to develop a new class of molecular glues capable of facilitating novel protein–protein interactions with the potential to drive clinically meaningful therapeutic responses in patients,” said Brian Safina, Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer of Magnet. “We are grateful for the support from ARCH and Newpath as we progress this novel approach.”
“Magnet is advancing a unique approach to molecular glue discovery that offers opportunities to expand the scope of addressable protein targets,” said Thomas Cahill, M.D., Ph.D., Founder and Managing Partner at Newpath Partners. “Their scientific leadership is driving forward a new way of creating novel medicines to reach patients across a vast range of indications.”
Magnet Leadership, Board & Co-founders
Magnet is led by industry veterans with deep expertise spanning the biotech and pharma sectors:
- Brian Safina, Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer
- Bret Williams, Ph.D., Vice President of Biology
- Matthew Hayward, Ph.D., Vice President of Drug Discovery
- Jennifer Franklin, Vice President of Administration & Operations
The company’s platform and approach are born from pioneering research from renowned scientific co-founders:
- Stuart Schreiber, Ph.D., Broad Institute, Harvard University
- Michael Rosbash, Ph.D., Brandeis University, Nobel Laureate (2017)
- Benjamin Cravatt, Ph.D., The Scripps Research Institute
- Richa Saxena, Ph.D., Massachusetts General Hospital, Broad Institute
- David Spiegel, M.D., Ph.D., Yale University
Magnet’s Board of Directors includes:
- Thomas Cahill, M.D., Ph.D., Founder and Managing Partner at Newpath Partners
- Kristina Burow, Managing Director at ARCH Venture Partners
“With a stellar team and industry-leading foundational science from leaders in the molecular glue landscape, Magnet is poised to drive new innovation and bring forth a robust portfolio of novel molecular glue medicines with the potential to transform the way we address human disease,” said Kristina Burow, Managing Director at ARCH Venture Partners.
About Magnet Biomedicine
Magnet Biomedicine is a biotechnology company advancing molecular glue discovery with rational selection and design. The company’s TrueGlue discovery platform applies cutting-edge advancements in human biology and proteomics to identify fit-for-purpose glues that maximize therapeutic impact and offer prominent benefits such as improving selectivity, inducing biological synergy on defined targets, and addressing historically undruggable proteins. Magnet is harnessing the vast untapped potential of TrueGlues to tackle multiple disease areas and biological mechanisms, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and immune disorders. For more information, visit our website magnetbio.com or follow us on LinkedIn and X, formerly known as Twitter.
About Newpath Partners
Newpath Partners is a life science and biotechnology venture firm focused on creating companies with world-leading academic scientists to pioneer revolutionary therapeutics intended to mitigate suffering and death from disease. With each investment, Newpath seeks to optimize performance by aligning the interests of academic founders, management teams, and investor groups. Newpath is dedicated to excellent science and to forming partnerships based on trust and a shared vision. To learn more, visit www.newpath.partners.
About ARCH Venture Partners
ARCH Venture Partners creates and invests in groundbreaking life science and technology companies. The firm is a recognized leader in commercializing technologies developed at academic institutions, corporate research groups and national laboratories. ARCH invests primarily in companies it co-founds with leading scientists and entrepreneurs, bringing innovations in life sciences and physical sciences to market.
For more information, visit www.archventure.com.
Media Contact
Peg Rusconi
Verge Scientific Communications