Ternary Therapeutics, a London-based developer of an AI-driven platform for molecular glue discovery, has raised £3.6M ($4.8M) in seed funding led by daphni. The platform uses machine learning and molecular dynamics to design glues that degrade or activate undruggable proteins for inflammatory and metabolic diseases. The capital will scale the platform, advance an internal pipeline of degraders and activators, and support hiring in biology and chemistry.
Seed Bucks UK Biotech Slowdown
The raise arrives as UK biotech VC totaled £1.8B across 58 deals in 2025, down from prior years. Protego Biopharma raised $130M Series B in December 2025 for a molecular glue degrader. Meanwhile, f5 Therapeutics shuttered in February 2026 after sector challenges. Ternary's AI focus differentiates it in targeted protein degradation (TPD), enabling rational glue design over serendipity.
85% of Proteins Elude Traditional Drugs
Approximately 85% of human proteins are undruggable by conventional small molecules. Molecular glues offer a solution by hijacking cellular degradation machinery for precise protein removal. Current methods rely on chance discovery, slowing progress against inflammatory targets. Ternary targets this gap with computational tools for deliberate design.
Physics-Informed AI Designs Ternary Complexes
Ternary's suite includes Leopard for hotspot identification, Puffin for effector prioritization, Gecko for binding sites, and Octopus for glue screening. These integrate ML with simulations like Free Energy Perturbation (FEP). A recent preprint tested Boltz-2 ML on 93 glues across five targets, comparing it to FEP for affinity prediction.
As Chris Tame, Founder and CEO, noted:
"The approach could allow scientists to design molecular glues deliberately rather than discovering them by chance."
This shifts glues from serendipitous finds to engineered therapeutics.
Spinout Founders Bring Degrader Expertise
Founders Chris Tame (ex-Head of Drug Discovery at Celeris Therapeutics) and Andrew Potterton (ex-Head of Platform at Adhesion Therapeutics) built degrader platforms at prior firms. Tame scaled Celeris's tech pipeline 50x; Potterton developed ML for heterobifunctional degraders. Advisors hail from Oxford, Crick Institute, and BenevolentAI. The 12-person team includes BenevolentAI and GSK veterans.
European VCs Bet on Glue Inflection
Daphni led with participation from Pace Ventures, i&i Biotech Fund, Future Planet Capital, and UKI2S. Pace highlighted Ternary's tools addressing undruggable targets. Investors signal conviction in AI-TPD amid big pharma deals like Novo Nordisk-Neomorph. Board addition of ex-Arvinas CSO Ian Taylor bolsters credentials.
TPD Market Explodes to $9.85B
The TPD market stands at $0.48B in 2025, projected to reach $9.85B by 2035 at 35.4% CAGR per MarketsandMarkets. Competitors include C4 Therapeutics ($225M), Monte Rosa Therapeutics ($225M), and Amphista Therapeutics ($70M+). Shift to oral molecular glues from larger PROTACs drives investment.
Hiring Signals Preclinical Acceleration
Ternary opened labs at Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst and plans Head of Biology, in-vitro biologist, synthetic chemist, and computational roles. PhD collaborations build glued interaction databases. Runner-up at TPD Summit underscores early traction. These steps position Ternary for pharma partnerships and pipeline milestones.