Cygnal Therapeutics Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based startup devoted to developing new cancer and immunotherapy drugs, has raised $65 million from Flagship Pioneering to advance research in a field it is calling "exoneural biology" in an effort to deliver relief via the peripheral nervous system. The company is led by Pearl Huang, a veteran of Roche Holding AG and Glaxosmithkline plc. Calling exoneural biology "a new way to look at something that has always been there," she said Cygnal's platform has uncovered "new drivers of disease that are both profound and actionable."

Cygnal Therapeutics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., was unveiled by Flagship Pioneering this week as a startup developing drugs targeting exoneural biology, an understanding of how nerves and neural signaling drive human health and disease. The company, led by CEO Pearl Huang, is focused initially on cancer and inflammatory disease.