Superluminal Medicines has closed an oversubscribed $60M Series B that will push its AI-designed obesity drug toward a first clinical trial.
The Boston company said the round, led by BVF Partners with new investors Deep Track Capital and Perceptive Advisors joining, will fund a Phase 1 study of its selective MC4R agonist in rare genetic forms of obesity and hypothalamic obesity, expected to begin by the end of 2026. Existing backers RA Capital Management, Insight Partners, NVIDIA, Catalio Capital Management, Eli Lilly and Company, Cooley and Gaingels also participated.
CEO Cony D’Cruz framed the raise as the company’s transition from a discovery platform into a clinical-stage biotech. The lead program targets the melanocortin-4 receptor pathway, a clinically validated regulator of appetite with established relevance in Bardet-Biedl syndrome and hypothalamic obesity. The company sees future applications in Prader-Willi syndrome and, in combination with GLP-1 therapies, broader obesity care.
Superluminal’s engine combines Agentic Cryo-EM, which generates hundreds of empirical GPCR structures, with co-folding models, de novo small-molecule design, predictive ADME-toxicology models and GPCR biophysics. The company says the approach produces candidate-ready compounds against GPCR targets that have historically resisted drug discovery.
The Series B follows a $120M Series A in September 2024 and a 2025 collaboration with Eli Lilly worth up to $1.3B in milestones and royalties.
