Big Drug Companies Invest In Aileron

Aileron Therapeutics, a tiny Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech firm focused on developing stapled peptides, has attracted an unusual group of investors in its latest round of financing. In addition to several traditional venture capital firms, the corporate venture funds of GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Eli Lilly & Co., and Roche all participated in the $40 million financing round. A stapled peptide is locked into an α-helical shape via cross-links between nonnatural amino acid side chains. Aileron believes their shape and ability to enter cells will allow stapled peptides to access previously unreachable drug targets. This latest influx of cash will allow the company to bring the first stapled peptide drugs into clinical trials next year.