P

ProteinQure

Computationally designs tissue-specific peptide delivery vehicles

Overview

ProteinQure designs peptides using computational methods to deliver therapies to specific tissues. Its peptides target disease-causing cells through receptor-mediated endocytosis, allowing therapeutic payloads to reach intended cells while reducing exposure to healthy tissues. The company works through partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and research institutions, licensing its peptide designs and receiving milestone payments as collaboration milestones are met. What sets ProteinQure apart is its cross-disciplinary team—combining experimental biology, software engineering, machine learning, and computational biology—to create and optimize tissue-specific delivery systems within the drug discovery process. The overarching goal is to transform how drugs are developed in precision medicine, enabling treatments for diseases that were previously hard to treat."} 0/1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Work here?Claim your company

About ProteinQure

Simplify's Rating
Why ProteinQure is rated
B-
Rated B on Competitive Edge
Rated B on Growth Potential
Rated C on Differentiation

Industries

Data & AnalyticsAI & Machine LearningBiotechnologyHealthcare

Company Size

11-50

Company Stage

Grant

Total Funding

$19.3M

Headquarters

Toronto, Canada

Founded

2017

Get referred to ProteinQure

See people who can refer or advise you

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's take

What believers are saying

  • FedDev Ontario gave ProteinQure $1.8 million on May 27, 2026.
  • Genome Canada awarded $2.5 million on April 7, 2026 for glioblastoma siRNA.
  • Open-source peptide tools and AtomWeaver broaden partner interest and recruiting appeal.

What critics are saying

  • PQ203 still faces Phase I failure risk before any commercialization in 2027.
  • ProteinQure depends on grants and partnerships; no recurring product revenue is disclosed.
  • If delivery platforms miss brain or tumor uptake, the company loses its thesis.

What makes ProteinQure unique

  • ProteinQure spans 3,500-plus non-canonical amino acids in ProteinStudio.
  • PQ203 entered Phase I at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in 2025.
  • AtomWeaver and open monomer databases deepen its peptide-design platform.

Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?

Funding

Total Funding

$19.3M

Below

Industry Average

Funded Over

7 Rounds

Grant funding comparison data is currently unavailable. We're working to provide this information soon!
Grant Funding Comparison Coming Soon

Growth & Insights and Company News

6 month growth

-3%

1 year growth

-3%

2 year growth

-3%
ProteinQure
May 27th, 2026
ProteinQure receives $1.8M from FedDev Ontario to advance ai-powered drug delivery.

ProteinQure receives $1.8M from FedDev Ontario to advance ai-powered drug delivery. ProteinQure May 27, 2026 TORONTO, Ontario, May 27, 2026 - ProteinQure Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company leveraging machine learning and generative AI to design precision therapeutics, announced it has received $1.8 million in funding from the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario's Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative. The funding will support the advancement of ProteinQure's AI-powered targeted drug delivery platform, with the goal of making treatments easier to produce, more cost-effective, and safer for patients. The investment was announced by the Honourable Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario, as part of a nearly $16.5 million investment in 13 Greater Toronto Area businesses and organizations working to accelerate AI adoption and bring new AI technologies to market. "Support like this is significant not only for ProteinQure, but for the broader Canadian ecosystem," said Lucas Siow, CEO of ProteinQure. "Clinical-stage biotech is capital-intensive and high-risk. Programs like the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative send an important signal to investors, recruits, and partners around the world that Canada is serious about building AI-driven companies that can move from lab to clinic." ProteinQure's platform integrates machine learning, structural biology, and atomic-level simulations to design therapeutic peptides from a design space spanning thousands of non-canonical amino acids. The company's lead asset, PQ203, is a peptide-drug conjugate for triple-negative breast cancer and among the first AI-designed peptide therapeutics to enter clinical development. It is now in Phase I clinical trials at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and other leading cancer hospitals. "Last year, we dosed the first patient in a Phase I clinical trial of PQ203 here in Toronto at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre," added Siow. "That full arc - from algorithm to patient - happened in Canada. Having clinical trials here means the first patients to potentially benefit are Canadians." "This funding allows us to train cutting-edge generative AI models purpose-built for peptide design - models that go far beyond the 20 canonical amino acids to explore vast chemical spaces of non-canonical building blocks," said Mark Fingerhuth, Chief R&D Officer and Head of ML at ProteinQure. "That's what unlocks truly differentiated therapeutics, and this grant gives us the resources to scale that work right here in Canada." The FedDev Ontario funding will support ProteinQure's continued work on AI-powered targeted delivery technologies. These efforts are aimed at expanding the impact of precision therapeutics by improving the ability to deliver medicines to the right tissues and cells, while reducing complexity, cost, and safety challenges. "There has never been a more exciting time to build at the intersection of AI and the life sciences," said Siow. "The therapeutics market is globally competitive, and companies need to move quickly, do world-class research, and be willing to take risks. We are grateful to FedDev Ontario for supporting this ambition and proud to keep building in Toronto." ProteinQure gratefully acknowledges support from the Government of Canada and FedDev Ontario through the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative. About ProteinQure ProteinQure Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in Toronto, Canada, that designs best-in-class peptide therapeutics. At the core is ProteinStudio(TM), a proprietary platform that integrates machine learning, structural biology, and atomic-level simulations to design therapeutic peptides using thousands of non-natural amino acids, enabling tissue-specific delivery and access to novel target classes. The company's lead asset, PQ203, a peptide-drug conjugate for triple-negative breast cancer, is currently in a Phase I clinical trial. For more information, visit www.proteinqure.com.

ProteinQure
Apr 7th, 2026
ProteinQure secures $2.5M Genome Canada award to develop siRNA therapy for glioblastoma

ProteinQure, a Toronto-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, has received a $2.5 million award from Genome Canada's Genomic Applications Partnership Program to advance siRNA therapeutics for glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. The funding, co-supported by Ontario Genomics, will support preclinical testing of the company's peptide-directed siRNA delivery platform. The project is led by Dr Stéphane Angers from the University of Toronto's Donnelly Centre, alongside Dr Peter Dirks from SickKids and Dr Douglas Cook from Queen's University. ProteinQure also appointed renowned neuro-oncologists Dr Henry S. Friedman from Duke University and Dr Alexandra M. Miller from NYU Langone Health to its Clinical Advisory Board. The company uses machine learning and generative AI to design precision therapeutics.

Pipeline Review
May 29th, 2025
ProteinQure Raises Series A Financing to Advance First AI-Designed Peptide Therapeutic into Clinical Trials

TORONTO, Canada I May 28, 2025 I ProteinQure Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering computational peptide therapeutics, announced today the close of an $11 million Series A financing round.

FinSMEs
May 28th, 2025
ProteinQure Closes $11M in Series A Financing

ProteinQure closes $11M in Series A financing.

Endpoints News
May 15th, 2025
ProteinQure raises $11M Series A

ProteinQure, co-founded by Lucas Siow and three others in 2017, has raised $11 million in a Series A funding round for its work on peptide drugs.

Recently Posted Jobs

Sign up to get curated job recommendations

ProteinQure is Hiring for 1 Jobs on Simplify!

Find jobs on Simplify and start your career today

Don't see your dream role? Check out thousands of other roles on Simplify.Browse all jobs