HotSpot Therapeutics

HotSpot Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing allosteric therapies for undrugged or poorly drugged targets. It focuses on targeting regulatory sites or pockets in proteins referred to as “natural hotspots” that have the ability to control cellular protein function. This approach is reportedly an overlooked method by drug developers, and so, the company boasts to be the first to follow it. 

The company leverages its platform Smart Allostery, which entails a broad range of technologies that combines AI, structure-function, and tailored chemistry, along with a chemical library tailored for hotspots. 

As of March 2024, the company had three drug candidates in its internal pipeline with two lead candidates, namely 1) HST-1011 to treat solid tumors in Phase I clinical trials and 2) HST-1021, a precision oncology candidate in the IND-enabling stage.

Key customers and partnerships

The company has entered several key partnerships including 1) Caris Life Sciences to develop its pipeline of precision medicine drugs and companion diagnostic tests ( January 2022 ), 2) Excelra to leverage its Global Online Structure Activity Relationship Database (GOSTAR) platform to identify new drug targets ( May 2022 ), and 3) AbbVie to develop the first small-molecule IRF5 inhibitor for treating autoimmune diseases ( December 2022 ). 

Funding and financials

In November 2021 , HotSpot Therapeutics raised USD 100 million in a Series C funding round led by Pivotal BioVenture Partners. New investors, including Revelation Partners and Pavilion Capital, as well as existing investors Atlas Venture and Sofinnova Partners, also participated in the round. The funds were used to further develop its platform and advance its clinical pipeline.