October 30, 2003

ITEC funding boosts local biotech firm

Chicago-based life sciences company cue BIOtech, Inc., has received a $25,000 investment from the Illinois Technology Enterprise Center (ITEC)-Evanston. This is the third investment ITEC has made from its pre-seed fund for technology startups.

Based on work that was done at Northwestern, Cue has developed an innovative drug discovery platform that targets G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). GPCRs are responsible for transferring many signals into cells and are the targets of 50 to 60 percent of all drugs on the market today. Cue’s proprietary platform enables them to discover small molecule drugs that have fewer side effects and target GPCRs that have proven resistant to drug development.

The company, which has been awarded multiple Small Business Innovation Research grants from the National Institutes of Health, is using its platform to create a pipeline of new small molecule drugs.

“cue BIOtech is poised to become a leader in the Illinois biotechnology community,” said Jeff Coney, director of ITEC-Evanston.

The investment from the ITEC pre-seed fund will be used to help refine these compounds into viable drug candidates.