Press release:
CE-Ventures, the corporate venture capital platform of Crescent Enterprises, today announced its investment in Oyster Therapeutics, previously known as Kesmalea Therapeutics, as part of the company’s $60 million Series A financing. Oyster is a pharmaceutical company developing next-generation targeted protein degraders, with an initial focus on tau-driven neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
The financing will support Oyster’s next stage of development and advance its lead programme, an oral, brain-penetrant degrader targeting the protein tau, towards clinical development. Abnormal tau accumulation is a defining feature of a group of neurodegenerative diseases known as tauopathies, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Oyster’s lead candidate is designed to enter the central nervous system and selectively remove pathological forms of tau while preserving healthy tau. By developing the candidate as an oral therapy, the company aims to create a practical treatment approach suitable for diseases affecting large patient populations.
Rob Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Oyster Therapeutics, said:
“We are delighted to welcome CE-Ventures as an investor and to have their support as we enter this next phase of growth. This financing enables us to accelerate our lead tau degrader towards the clinic while advancing our broader SELFTAC platform, which we believe has the potential to unlock a new generation of medicines for diseases of the central nervous system. We look forward to working with CE-Ventures and our wider investor syndicate as we build a leading company in targeted protein degradation.”
Oyster’s broader pipeline comprises candidates generated through its proprietary SELFTAC® platform, which is designed to address the size limitations of conventional bifunctional targeted protein degraders. The platform enables smaller components to cross biological membranes before self-assembling into bifunctional degraders, with the aim of improving oral bioavailability and central nervous system penetration while retaining the ability to direct the cell’s natural protein-disposal machinery towards disease-causing proteins.
Tushar Singhvi, Deputy CEO and Head of Investments at Crescent Enterprises, said:
“CE-Ventures continues to expand its life sciences portfolio by backing differentiated technologies with the potential to address areas of significant unmet medical need. Oyster Therapeutics combines a proprietary platform with a clear therapeutic focus in neurodegenerative disease, where new approaches capable of addressing underlying disease biology are urgently needed.”
Oyster has also entered into a sponsored research agreement with Massachusetts General Hospital to access specialist tau biology capabilities, including patient-derived neuronal cell lines and techniques to generate and detect oligomeric tau. The research is being conducted under the supervision of Dr. Catarina Silva, an investigator at the Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and a leading tau researcher.
Dr. Damir Illich, VP, Life Sciences at CE-Ventures, added:
“Oyster’s SELFTAC® platform addresses a key challenge in targeted protein degradation by aiming to combine the power of bifunctional degraders with properties that support brain penetration and oral delivery. Its lead tau programme gives the company a differentiated approach in neurodegenerative disease, supported by strong scientific expertise and a path towards clinical development.”
CE-Ventures’ life sciences portfolio spans drug discovery, genetic medicine and targeted therapeutics. Oyster Therapeutics adds neuroscience and targeted protein degradation to that mix, further broadening the therapeutic technologies represented across the portfolio.