Superluminal Medicines has closed a $60 million Series B as it prepares to move its first drug candidate from preclinical research into a Phase 1 human trial. The Boston biotechnology company combines structural biology, laboratory experiments, and machine learning to design small-molecule medicines for G protein-coupled receptors, or GPCRs, a large but technically difficult class of drug targets.

Its platform builds detailed pictures of how GPCR proteins move and how molecules can bind to different three-dimensional forms of those proteins. Superluminal then uses computational chemistry and predictive models to design and screen potential drugs. The company develops its own pipeline and also works with pharmaceutical partners, including Eli Lilly, giving it both an asset-development path and a partnership-based commercial route.

The lead program is a selective MC4R agonist for rare genetic forms of obesity and hypothalamic obesity. MC4R helps regulate appetite and energy balance, and the company is trying to activate the desired pathway while reducing unwanted signaling. The candidate remains preclinical; Superluminal says it demonstrated selectivity and a favorable safety profile in preclinical studies, but human safety and efficacy have not yet been established.

BVF Partners led the Series B. New investors Deep Track Capital and Perceptive Advisors joined existing backers RA Capital Management, Insight Partners, Nvidia, Catalio Capital Management, Eli Lilly, Cooley, and Gaingels. Superluminal previously announced a $120 million Series A in 2024, led by RA Capital, after raising a $33 million seed round in 2023.

The proceeds are expected to start the Phase 1 trial by the end of 2026, advance additional programs, and expand the GPCR discovery platform. That makes the next value-creating milestone clinical rather than financial: the round funds the first test of whether the company's computational and structural approach can produce a tolerable drug in people. No valuation, share price, ownership split, or preferred-stock terms were disclosed.