Entact Bio is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company in Watertown, Massachusetts developing small-molecule medicines that enhance the function of beneficial proteins rather than inhibiting or degrading them. Its Encompass platform designs ENTACs (Enhancement-Targeting Chimeras), orally available bifunctional molecules that act as molecular matchmakers between a target protein and a deubiquitylase (DUB), harnessing the DUB's natural activity to extend a protein's lifespan, relocate it to the correct cellular compartment, or modify its activity. The company was founded in 2021 by a team rooted in DUB biochemistry and chemical biology and launched publicly in 2023 with an $81 million Series A co-led by Qiming Venture Partners USA and venBio Partners. It is led by CEO Victoria Richon, previously President and CEO of Ribon Therapeutics and global head of oncology research at Sanofi.
What sets it apart
Most induced-proximity drug discovery removes proteins; Entact runs the mechanism in reverse, recruiting deubiquitylases to rescue and boost proteins that disease has lost, mislocated, or silenced - reaching targets that inhibitors and degraders structurally cannot address.
