'Enormous opportunity': Mozart Therapeutics CEO looks ahead after big funding round

Seattle-based biotech company Mozart Therapeutics has big growth plans for Seattle after its $55 million Series A round, which was announced in late October.

Mozart CEO Katie Fanning said the company currently has 14 employees, all of whom are based in the Seattle area. Given the fresh funding, the company plans to roughly double its headcount over the next year.

"It's an enormous opportunity, and the thing that excited me so much about joining and really the launch of Mozart is the opportunity to take a truly different approach to develop therapeutics that could have a significant, meaningful impact," Fanning said. "We look at the novel network as our enabling technology to build a broad portfolio of disease-modifying therapies."

Fanning added that Mozart has many scientists who need to work on location at the company's lab, and even people who don't work in the lab generally come in a couple times a week. Although the company plans to keep its Seattle focus moving forward, Fanning said Mozart could be open to hiring remotely if it was the right fit.

Mozart, which launched last year, is targeting celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The company's technology centers around a network of what are called CD8 regulatory T cells. Its celiac disease treatment and IBD treatment are in lead optimization and discovery phases, respectively.

Fanning was the president and CEO of Nohla Therapeutics before becoming CEO of Mozart. The company currently has office space in Uptown near the waterfront, and although Mozart doesn't have any specific plans right now, Fanning said the company will likely need to grow its footprint eventually.

As for the company's name, Fanning said it's playing off orchestrate.

"Mozart is a well-renowned composer. He made a significant and meaningful difference in music," Fanning said. "My hope is that we will change the treatment paradigm in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases in a similar way."