Cloverleaf: Turning 5-FU’s overlooked RNA mechanism into a new payload

Cloverleaf is turning the RNA-disrupting mechanism of one of the oldest chemotherapies into a new class of targeted cancer payloads. The Yale spinout is engineering tRNA-shaped oligonucleotides that inhibit enzymes implicated in 5-fluorouracil’s anticancer activity, then attaching them to tumor-targeting antibodies.

Cloverleaf Bio Inc. closed an oversubscribed $33 million seed round Tuesday, led by U.K.-based 4BIO Capital, with participation from AbbVie Ventures, Lilly Ventures and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund. Lilly provided the founding team’s first outside funding — a $100,000 grant awarded while CEO Austin Draycott was still a graduate student at Yale University...