Navitor secures $23.5M in series A

Navitor Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) secured $23.5 million in a tranched series A round. Polaris Partners; Atlas Venture; Johnson & Johnson Development Corp. (JJDC); SR One; and The Longevity Fund participated. JJDC is the venture arm of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). Navitor is developing selective inhibitors of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) to treat metabolic, neurodegenerative, autoimmune and musculoskeletal diseases. Depending on the disease, the company's therapeutics can up-regulate or down-regulate mTORC1 function. Navitor expects to enter the clinic with its first candidate in about three years. ...