Decoy Therapeutics

Decoy Therapeutics, Inc. is a preclinical-stage biotechnology firm established in 2020 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company is focused on engineering the next generation of peptide conjugate therapeutics to address significant unmet needs in medicine, particularly in respiratory viruses and gastrointestinal cancers. A pivotal event in the company's history was the announcement of a definitive merger agreement with Salarius Pharmaceuticals in January 2025, with the combined entity to be named Decoy Therapeutics. This merger is anticipated to provide the capital and public market visibility necessary to advance Decoy's pipeline.

The company was co-founded by CEO Frederick “Rick” Pierce, a serial entrepreneur with extensive experience in building healthcare companies, and Chief Scientific Officer Barbara Hibner. Another key co-founder is Dr. Brad Pentelute, a Professor of Chemistry at MIT, whose lab pioneered the fast peptide synthesis technology that forms a core part of Decoy's platform. The company's inception was spurred by a phone call at the start of the pandemic between Professor Pentelute, who had developed a peptide sequence against COVID-19, and individuals with expertise in drug delivery and conjugation, leading to the formation of Decoy Therapeutics. The management team also includes experienced executives from both Decoy and Salarius.

Decoy's core technology is its proprietary IMP3ACT™ platform, which integrates artificial intelligence and machine learning with high-speed peptide synthesis and a deep understanding of target biology. This platform enables the rapid design, engineering, and manufacturing of novel peptide conjugate drug candidates, reducing the development timeline for new therapies from years to weeks. The technology enhances the drug-like properties of short peptides—which are typically metabolized too quickly—by linking them to other molecules, ensuring they effectively reach their targets in the body. This allows for the creation of broad-spectrum antivirals that can target conserved structural similarities across entire viral families, such as paramyxoviruses (including RSV, measles, and Nipah virus) and coronaviruses. Its initial pipeline includes a pan-coronavirus antiviral, for which it plans to file an Investigational New Drug (IND) application, and programs for broad-acting antivirals and GI cancers. The business model is centered on developing these proprietary drug candidates through preclinical and clinical stages, funded by a combination of institutional investment and significant non-dilutive capital from entities like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, BARDA, Johnson & Johnson, and the Google AI startup program.

Keywords: peptide conjugate therapeutics, antiviral drug development, oncology, artificial intelligence in drug discovery, machine learning in biotechnology, IMP3ACT platform, respiratory viruses, gastrointestinal cancers, preclinical biotechnology, Salarius Pharmaceuticals merger, broad-spectrum antivirals, drug engineering, peptide synthesis, pandemic preparedness, coronavirus, RSV, GI cancer, therapeutic peptides, computational drug design, biopharmaceutical