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Quench Bio’s short journey has come to an end after the biotech startup found that its target was simply undruggable.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech had focused on blocking the gasdermin D protein with oral inhibitors to treat inflammatory diseases and had attempted to seek out a potent, selective chemical series to progress by the first quarter of 2021.
It has not, however, managed to hit that goal, and, with credit to the company, it is not trying to spin out this failure, but says it now simply recommends “to wind down and return capital to investors.” It raised $50 million last year from the likes of RA Capital, AbbVie Ventures, Atlas Venture and Arix Bioscience, and was a 2020 Fierce 15 winner.