Belgian techbio company Sightera Biosciences has raised $3.2 million (€3 million) in pre-seed financing to advance its AI drug discovery platform and a pipeline of small molecules targeting oncology and fibrosis.
The round was backed by Entourage Ventures, Anacura, and Qbic Fund. Sightera generates its own drug-response data using tissue from patients with advanced, treatment-resistant disease rather than relying solely on public datasets, an approach the company says addresses a key challenge in computational drug discovery.
The lead program, SIGHT001, is an AI-designed molecular glue for KRAS-mutant pancreatic, biliary tract, and colorectal cancers. Molecular glues work by redirecting interactions between proteins and recruiting the cell’s disposal machinery to eliminate disease-driving targets. The company reported promising in vivo results in pancreatic cancer and ex vivo data in colorectal and biliary tract cancers.
Sightera is also developing SIGHT002 for HER2-positive esophageal and gastric cancers and SIGHT101, a small molecule fibrosis program in hit-to-lead development. The company emerged from more than a decade of translational research at the University of Antwerp and Antwerp University Hospital.
The funding is intended to take SIGHT001 to candidate selection, with a larger financing round being prepared to support eventual clinical development.
