Gate Bio

Gate Bioscience (GateBioscience, Inc., gatebio.com) is a preclinical biotechnology company based in Brisbane, California, founded in 2021. It is developing a class of small molecule therapeutics it calls Molecular Gates, which are intended to eliminate harmful extracellular proteins inside the cell before they are secreted. The company states that human cells produce more than 4,000 extracellular proteins — including secreted and membrane proteins — of which over 1,000 are implicated in disease, and that the vast majority transit a single channel in the endoplasmic reticulum known as the secretory translocon (Sec61).

Molecular gates bind the secretory translocon and establish a selective "gate" that blocks a specific target protein from passing through while allowing non-targeted proteins to transit normally; the blocked protein is then routed to degradation rather than secretion. Because the agents are small molecules, the company positions them as orally available and capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier, which it contrasts with injectable biologics.

The company's portfolio targets validated proteins in inflammatory and neurological disease, including cytokines eliminated intracellularly before entering circulation. As of the November 2025 Series B announcement, Gate said proceeds would carry its lead programs through IND-enabling studies and Phase 1 clinical trials to generate clinical proof-of-concept data, while expanding discovery against additional targets.

Founding story

Gate Bioscience was founded in 2021 by Jordi Mata-Fink (Co-Founder and CEO), Raman Talwar (Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer) and Pat Sharp (Scientific Co-Founder, described in 2023 as Vice President of Discovery Science). The company operated in stealth until November 1, 2023, when it unveiled itself along with its scientific platform and Series A financing.

Business model

Gate Bioscience is a venture-backed, preclinical therapeutics developer that funds internal drug discovery and development through equity financing, and also applies its discovery engine to programs for biopharmaceutical partners. In July 2025 it entered a collaboration and license agreement with Eli Lilly to discover and develop molecular gate medicines; Lilly subsequently participated as a new investor in the Series B.

No product revenue is described; the company is preclinical and is capitalized by venture financing, with a collaboration and license agreement with Eli Lilly as a partnering arrangement. Financial terms of that agreement are not stated in the sources.

Traction

Gate emerged from stealth in November 2023 with a $60 million Series A and closed a $65 million oversubscribed Series B in November 2025, bringing total capital raised to $135 million. It has assembled a leadership team, board and advisory group including a chairman who formerly led global research and early development at Celgene, and academic advisors from Caltech and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Its Lilly collaboration and the participation of Lilly in the Series B indicate external validation. No clinical-stage assets or named development candidates are disclosed in the sources.

Latest developments

On November 13, 2025 Gate Bioscience announced the close of a $65 million oversubscribed Series B led by Forbion, with new investor Eli Lilly and existing investors Versant Ventures, a16z Bio + Health, GV and ARCH Venture Partners, bringing total capital raised to $135 million. Vanessa Carle of Forbion joined the board. The proceeds are earmarked for advancing lead molecular gate programs through IND-enabling studies and Phase 1 clinical trials and for expanding the discovery portfolio and platform.