Novo Holdings invests to advance highly targeted small molecule medicines

With total investment of $175 Million Terremoto Biosciences will progress multiple in-house discovery and development programs targeting diseases of high unmet medical need

SAN FRANCISCO, November 2, 2023 – Novo Holdings, a leading global life sciences investor, today announced an investment in Terremoto Biosciences, a biotechnology company developing highly targeted, small molecule medicines.

The $175 million Series B financing round will enable Terremoto to advance its platform and support the progress of multiple in-house discovery and development programs targeting diseases of high unmet medical need. In addition to Novo Holdings, investors EcoR1 Capital, Cormorant Capital, OrbiMed and Third Rock Ventures participated in the round.

“Terremoto is leveraging covalent drug discovery to create highly targeted, small molecule medicines for a spectrum of severe diseases, including cancer,” said Daniel O’Connell, Partner in the Venture Investments group at Novo Holdings. “We are encouraged by the potential of their platform, and pleased to support their experienced management team as they work to deliver new therapies to patients.” In connection with the financing, O’Connell will join the Board of Directors at Terremoto.

Harnessing the power of the covalent alphabet to expand the drug universe
Due to their distinctive properties, covalent therapies offer enhanced inhibitory profiles that can deactivate mutated proteins for extended periods of time, without the extended toxicity.

Historically, covalent medicines have relied on binding to the amino acid cysteine, which is uncommon in proteins, thus limiting the number of potential drug targets. Terremoto is discovering and developing drugs that covalently bind different amino acids present in proteins of interest. Terremoto is leveraging breakthroughs in novel chemistry and biology to overcome these historic hurdles and broaden the covalent drug alphabet.

Terremoto’s lysine-targeted covalency platform enables the team to pursue a wide breadth of protein targets, ranging from validated receptors to the historically undruggable. This approach has the potential to create medicines that are longer-lasting, more efficacious and more tolerable.

About Terremoto Biosciences
Terremoto Biosciences is a drug discovery and development company creating highly targeted, small molecule medicines with unmatched selectivity, potency and efficacy designed to deliver superior therapeutic benefit to patients. Terremoto is supported by leading investors including OrbiMed, Third Rock Ventures, EcoR1 Capital, Novo Holdings and Cormorant Capital. More information is available at www.terremotobio.com.

About Novo Holdings A/S
Novo Holdings is a holding and investment company that is responsible for managing the assets and the wealth of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The purpose of Novo Holdings is to improve people’s health and the sustainability of society and the planet by generating attractive long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Novo Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S and manages an investment portfolio with a long-term return perspective. In addition to managing a broad portfolio of equities, bonds, real estate, infrastructure and private equity assets, Novo Holdings is a world-leading life sciences investor. Through its Seeds, Venture, Growth, and Principal Investments teams, Novo Holdings invests in life science companies at all stages of development.
As of year-end 2022, Novo Holdings had total assets of EUR 108 billion. Read more at www.novoholdings.dk

About the Novo Nordisk Foundation
The Novo Nordisk Foundation is an independent Danish foundation with corporate interests. It has two objectives: 1) to provide a stable basis for the commercial and research activities of the companies in the Novo Group; and 2) to support scientific, humanitarian and social causes.

The vision of the Foundation is to contribute significantly to research and development that improves the lives of people and the sustainability of society. Since 2010, the Foundation has donated more than DKK 30 billion ($5 billion), primarily for research at public institutions and hospitals in Denmark and the other Nordic countries. Read more at www.novonordiskfonden.dk/en