Ternary Therapeutics has raised £3.6m in seed funding to develop an artificial intelligence-driven approach to designing ‘molecular glue’, a type of small molecule drug used to degrade targeted proteins.
The London-based biotech company has raised a round led by daphni with participation from the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund managed by Pace Ventures, i&i Biotech Fund and Future Planet Capital.
Ternary is building a platform that combines machine learning with physically-based molecular modeling and rapid clinical testing. The goal is to intentionally design molecular adhesives rather than discovering them by accident.
Molecular adhesives induce protein-protein interactions and direct the cell’s own protein processing machinery toward disease-associated proteins. In recent years, this approach has spawned several major biotech companies, but discoveries have often relied on screening and serendipity.
Ternary’s platform uses AI models to predict protein behavior and suggest molecules that may bind specific proteins. Scientists then test those molecules in the lab and feed the results back into computational systems for further design rounds.
drug target
Many disease-causing proteins still lack defined binding sites for traditional small molecules, limiting the scope of existing drugs and discovery programs. Molecular adhesives offer one way to circumvent this constraint, as they can create new protein-protein interactions rather than relying on pre-existing pockets.
Ternary says its technology allows adhesives to be designed without the need for druggable moieties in either target protein. We also use molecular dynamics simulations as part of our modeling workflow.
Founded in November 2024, Ternary says its team includes drug discovery researchers with experience in targeted protein degradation and AI-powered drug discovery.
initial pipeline
Ternary reports a pipeline of preclinical programs focused on inflammatory and neuroinflammatory diseases. The company also has early research collaborations with specialized pharmaceutical and biotech partners, which it did not name.
This funding will support the expansion of both our computational and experimental teams and advance lead programs toward preclinical development.
Co-founder and CEO Dr. Chris Tame said the challenge is to make molecular glue discovery more predictable.
“Molecular adhesives have led to some of the most exciting advances in drug discovery over the past decade, but historically they were discovered mostly by chance rather than through a systematic process,” Tame said.
“Our platform is designed to change this by combining physics-based AI with rapid experimental validation to intentionally manipulate these molecules at scale. This allows us to approach drug discovery like an engineering problem rather than a trial-and-error process,” he added.
Mr. Tame also mentioned how this funding will be useful to them.
“This investment will allow us to expand our platform, grow our team, and accelerate our programs to the clinic while building the foundation for long-term partnerships with pharmaceutical companies,” said Tame.
Investor’s perspective
Lead investor Daphni is expanding its presence with science-driven investments. The firm recently launched Daphne Blue, a €260 million fund focused on science-driven deep technology companies.
“Predictably designing molecular adhesives is one of the most difficult problems in drug discovery. Ternary has built a disciplined platform that integrates machine learning, physics, and experimental biology to tackle this challenge,” said Cristian Pinto, an investor in daphni.
One of the participating investors, UKI2S, linked this approach to recent advances in computing and AI applied to biology.
“Ternary’s approach to drug design is enabled by its computational power. The combination of expanding knowledge of biology and recent developments in AI allows for extremely complex understandings, and the resulting molecular adhesive candidates have historically been considered out of reach. This is an example of world-class ambition with huge potential for patient benefit, and one that UKI2S is delighted to support,” said Oliver Sexton, investment director at UKI2S, managed by Future Planet Capital.
Molecular adhesive design is gaining more attention as AI-powered discovery methods gain investor interest. This is to address targets that traditional chemistry has resisted. Ternary plans to grow its team and advance its lead program through preclinical research while developing further collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies.
