Copenhagen-based Orbis Medicines, a drug discovery company, has raised €90M in a Series A funding round, bringing its total funding to €116M.
The round was led by NEA (New Enterprise Associates) with participation from Eli Lilly, Cormorant, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, Novo Holdings, and Forbion.
In addition to the funding, Orbis Medicines has appointed Morten Graugaard as CEO, following his tenure as Executive Chair of the Board. Graugaard brings over 20 years of experience in the life sciences, with expertise in venture investing, R&D, business development, corporate development, and strategy.
Ed Mathers, Partner at NEA, says, “The Orbis Medicines team has impressed us with the data supporting nGen, which we believe is the world’s leading discovery engine for oral macrocycle drugs. We are thrilled to support not only their journey to the clinic but also their longer-term vision as a leader in their field.”
“We congratulate Morten on his appointment as CEO after years of successfully guiding the company as Chair. He brings the depth of knowledge and expertise to lead Orbis through this crucial growth phase and deliver on the potential of nCycles.”
Capital utilisation
Orbis Medicines specialises in advancing oral macrocycle drug discovery, addressing the challenges historically associated with developing these compounds as oral drugs. The company’s programs aim to create high-value oral alternatives to biologic drugs, focusing on maximising patient benefits.
The funds will advance the development of Orbis Medicines’ oral macrocycle drug pipeline, “nCycles”.
Orbis CEO, Graugaard, says, “The support from this particular group of investors is further validation of the exemplary science and exciting potential of Orbis Medicines. The company is advancing the potential of macrocycles by developing orally available nCycles — a format preferred by patients, physicians and healthcare systems, particularly for chronic diseases.”
“The interest we have received demonstrates the market appetite for nCycles as an oral approach to both validated biologic targets and targets undruggable by other modalities. We have a clear strategy for rapid value creation that leverages the unique capabilities of our nGen platform and are excited to advance this important new class of drugs for patients.”
Contributing to medical innovation
Founded in 2024, Orbis Medicines is advancing oral macrocycle drug discovery through its nGen platform, which develops nCycle candidates optimised for oral bioavailability. The company focuses on targets validated by biologic drugs traditionally delivered by injection.
nGen platform is designed to generate nCycles, a new class of synthetic macrocycle compounds optimised for oral bioavailability and membrane permeability. Macrocycles are compounds with cyclic structures that offer versatility and the ability to target a wide range of proteins.
The platform uses a “lab in a loop” system, starting with libraries of 100 billion compounds, and can synthesise and analyse up to 100,000 distinct macrocycles in weeks.
This high-throughput, automated system, combined with machine learning, accelerates discovery and de-risks the development of compounds suitable for oral dosing and intracellular targeting.
Orbis raised €26M in a seed round co-led by Novo Holdings and Forbion. The company currently operates from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Lausanne, Switzerland.
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