- UAE-based CE‑Ventures, the VC arm of Crescent Enterprises, has participated in a $55 million Series A funding round for US-based biotech company Think Bioscience.
- The oversubscribed round was led by Regeneron Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, and Janus Henderson Investors, with additional participation from MBX Capital, T.A. Springer, YK Bioventures, and returning investors.
- Think Bioscience is developing synthetic biology-enabled drug discovery platforms to design small-molecule therapies for disease targets historically considered “undruggable”.
- The new capital will support the advancement of Think Bio’s first-in-class small-molecule pipeline and the continued development of its discovery platform.
Press release:
CE-Ventures, the corporate venture capital platform of Crescent Enterprises, today announced its participation in the Series A funding round for Think Bioscience (“Think Bio”), a biotechnology company pioneering novel approaches to historically challenging drug targets. The oversubscribed USD 55 million round was led by Regeneron Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, and Janus Henderson Investors, with participation from CE-Ventures, MBX Capital, T.A. Springer, and YK Bioventures, alongside returning investors AV8 Ventures, CU Innovations, and Buff Gold Ventures. The new capital will support the advancement of Think Bio’s internal pipeline of first-in-class small molecule programs and further development of its synthetic biology discovery platform.
Think Bioscience uses synthetic biology to uncover previously hidden footholds on proteins (such as novel pockets) that enable medicinal chemists to design small molecule drugs against targets long considered “undruggable”. The company’s lead program focuses on mutants that cause Noonan syndrome, a genetic condition affecting approximately 1 in 2,500 births and associated with serious cardiac and lymphatic complications, short stature, cognitive impairment, and chronic pain. There are currently no approved therapies that directly address the underlying biology of Noonan syndrome.
“Think Bioscience is building a differentiated platform at the frontier of synthetic biology and drug discovery, with the potential to expand what is pharmaceutically possible for patients with high unmet need,” said Tushar Singhvi, Deputy CEO and Head of Investments at Crescent Enterprises. “Our investment reflects strong conviction in Think Bio’s approach and the opportunity to build a leading biotech company that can benefit patients worldwide.”
Dr. Jerome Fox, co-founder and CEO at Think Bioscience commented, “Our lead program has the potential to give a broad set of Noonan patients a normal life. We are grateful to our investors for supporting our vision to develop life-changing therapies for patients in need.”
Despite notable advances in computational chemistry, many proteins across the human proteome remain out of reach for conventional drug discovery because they lack obvious binding pockets for small molecules. Think Bio’s synthetic biology platform applies high‑throughput functional surveys to reveal new pockets and mechanism‑relevant sites, enabling the development of small molecules with biochemical activities previously viewed as difficult – if not impossible – to achieve. The company has extended this approach to a diverse set of targets and developed a robust internal pipeline of therapeutic programs.
“Think Bioscience is addressing one of drug discovery’s most critical bottlenecks by enabling small-molecule drugs against historically undruggable targets. Their Noonan syndrome program highlights the platform’s potential where no approved therapies exist,” said Damir Illich, Manager, Life Sciences at CE-Ventures, who will join the company’s board as an observer.
The investment in Think Bioscience builds on CE‑Ventures’ strategy of backing visionary entrepreneurs and R&D‑led, asset‑light business models across sectors, including deep‑tech and biotech, with the potential to compete on a global stage. CE-Ventures will again be convening global experts, clinicians, innovators, investors and policymakers at ‘The Microbiome Revolution’ its flagship biotech event on 5 February 2026 in Dubai. This year’s symposium is focussed on ‘Unlocking the Gut–Brain Axis for the Future of Health’, and with the human microbiome market projected to grow 5x in 5 years to more than USD 4 million by 2030, the event is set to attract senior leaders across healthcare, life sciences, nutrition, and investment to strengthen collaboration across the full pipeline, from research and validation to deployment and impact.