Fauna Bio

Company Overview

Fauna Bio is a platform-driven biotech focused on discovering new medicines by studying how animals naturally resist disease. Its approach is based on analyzing genetic and physiological adaptations across species to uncover protective mechanisms that can be translated into human therapeutics.

The company combines a proprietary biobank of genomic data with its Convergence™ platform to identify and validate targets. This strategy emphasizes causal biology derived from extreme phenotypes such as hibernation, metabolic suppression and tissue resilience.

Fauna Bio operates at the intersection of AI, genomics and translational biology, positioning itself as a discovery engine rather than a traditional single-pipeline biotech.

Headquarters and Global Presence

Fauna Bio is headquartered in Emeryville, California, United States, with roots in the Berkeley biotechnology ecosystem.

The company collaborates with pharmaceutical partners and research institutions globally, particularly in early-stage discovery and target identification.

Founding and History

• founded in 2018 by Ashley Zehnder, Linda Goodman and Katie Grabek

Fauna Bio was established to translate insights from non-model organisms into therapeutic development. Its founding premise is that evolution has already solved many biological challenges relevant to human disease.

The company has raised approximately $13 million in funding and remains privately held.

Therapy Areas and Focus

Fauna Bio is not limited to a single therapeutic area. Its platform is applied across diseases with shared biological drivers.

• cardiovascular disease
• metabolic disorders, including obesity
• neurodegenerative diseases
• fibrosis and age-related conditions

The company prioritizes indications where natural resilience mechanisms in animals provide clear translational hypotheses.

Technology Platforms and Modalities

The company’s platform integrates comparative biology with AI-enabled discovery.

• Convergence™ platform for cross-species data integration
• proprietary biobank of genomic and phenotypic data
• analysis of naturally evolved disease resistance across mammals
• AI-driven target identification and validation

This approach is designed to identify novel drug targets by replicating protective biological mechanisms observed in nature.

Key Pipeline and Programs

Fauna Bio does not emphasize a traditional disclosed clinical pipeline, instead focusing on target discovery and early development.

Internal discovery programs

• modality: target discovery and preclinical development
• indication focus: cardiovascular, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases
• stage: discovery and preclinical

Partnered programs

• collaboration with Eli Lilly in obesity and metabolic disease target discovery
• prior collaboration with Novo Nordisk focused on obesity therapeutics

Recent developments include nomination of targets for heart failure and metabolic disease based on platform outputs.

Key Personnel

• Ashley Zehnder, Chief Executive Officer
• Linda Goodman, Chief Technology Officer
• Katie Grabek, Chief Scientific Officer

The leadership team has backgrounds in genomics, computational biology and translational science.

Strategic Partnerships

Fauna Bio operates through a partnership-driven discovery model.

Key elements include:

• collaborations with pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly
• prior research partnerships with Novo Nordisk
• venture backing from investors including True Ventures and Lifeforce Capital

These partnerships provide validation of the platform and support downstream development.

FAQ Section