SAN DIEGO, May 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Origami Therapeutics http://origamitherapeutics.com,
a discovery-stage company taking a precision medicine approach to discover diseasemodifying
treatments for neurodegeneration, announced today it has been selected as one of
13 life science “Cool Companies for 2021” by Connect. Origami was selected from a pool of over
150 tech and life science applicants.
Every year Connect gathers applications from tech and life science startup companies around
the San Diego region from which they select around 30 to introduce to investors across the
country. The program neutrally selects top tier, local entrepreneurs raising institutional funding,
and grants them opportunities for direct access to capital providers, attracting over 200
Venture Capitalists to the region annually. Since 2015, Cool Companies have raised over $650M,
just in Institutional Series A funding.
“It is exciting to be included in such an outstanding group of innovative companies,” said Beth
J. Hoffman, PhD, Founder, President and CEO of Origami. “The San Diego biotech ecosystem is
a great place to build a company and we are keen to present our novel therapeutic approach
to investors.”
Leveraging the Founder’s experience in discovering transformational therapies for Cystic
Fibrosis that modulate CFTR conformation, Origami’s focus is to treat neurodegeneration by
directly modulating the pathogenic proteins that cause disease in order to restore physiologic
balance. Their platform enables discovery of both protein degraders and conformation
correctors, allowing them to match the best drug to treat each disease by using patientderived
disease models to ensure success in clinical trials.
About Connect
Connect is a San Diego community nonprofit passionate about entrepreneurs, innovation, and
improving the economy. One of the nation’s first startup accelerators, Connect was founded in
1985 by the University of California San Diego. UCSD in partnership with the San Diego
Regional EDC and private sector businesses, recognized the opportunity to establish an
organization to transform San Diego’s growing research capabilities into an economic driver to
increase the prosperity of the region. Connect serves entrepreneurs and startups from early
stage throughout their growth journey, with a suite of curated programs and events aimed to
help companies grow, gain access to capital, and scale.
About Origami Therapeutics
Origami is applying its deep expertise in small molecule modulators of protein conformation
to identify novel treatments for neurological diseases like Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s
disease, Parkinson’s disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other dementias. Currently,
the Company is selecting the optimal protein degrader molecule to advance into preclinical
testing for Huntington’s disease, a devastating fatal disease that strikes at the prime of life.
Origami’s strategy is to identify compounds that spare normal protein function, thereby
maintaining physiologic balance and preventing negative consequences of loss-of-function.
Origami Therapeutics, Inc. aims to develop therapies with the potential to prevent, halt or slow
progression of disease, resulting in a normal quality of life and normal productivity for patients
and their families.
For more information, please visit http://origamitherapeutics.com.
CONTACT: Leslie J. Schulze, CFO, leslie@origamitherapeutics.com
Press Release: Origami Therapeutics, Inc. Selected as a CONNECT Cool Company of 2021