The state’s quasi-public technology investment arm has announced it is making putting $500,000 into a New Haven company that makes antibiotics.
Connecticut Innovations’ investment in BioRelix Inc. is part of a $4.24 million round of funding for the company.
BioRelix is developing antibiotics by using riboswitches as part of the drug discovery process. Riboswitches are short pieces of messenger ribonucleic acid that bind small molecules and control genes together that are essential for the survival of many human germs.
The idea of using messenger ribonucleic acids to fight infections was first identified in the laboratory of Yale Professor Ron Breaker. BioRelix’s team of scientists includes several who formerly worked at Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Yale, according to Connecticut Innovations officials.