NeoPhore, a small molecule neoantigen immuno-oncology company, has completed its £21.5m (US $28.5m) Series B financing, with a £6m (US $7.5m) financing extension.
The syndicate comprised its Series B subscribing investors including CRT Pioneer Fund, Claris Ventures, 2Invest, 3B Future Health Fund and Astellas Venture Management.
NeoPhore is focused on the discovery and development of novel first-in-class small molecule drugs targeting the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) pathway to treat cancer. The additional funding will be used to progress NeoPhore’s expanding pipeline of drugs, encompassing multiple biological targets and modalities of treatment, to the start of IND-enabling studies in 2024.
Dr Robert James, chairman of NeoPhore, said: “This additional support from NeoPhore’s existing investors is a strong testament to the company’s novel and differentiated immunotherapy approach.
“We believe that by altering the tumour genotype to elicit immunological responses, we can offer huge clinical benefit in the level and durability of anti-tumour responses in a wide range of indications for the benefit of cancer patients.
“2022 was a year of remarkable progress for NeoPhore in which it demonstrated, for the first time that we are aware of, a number of exciting therapeutic consequences of inhibiting mismatch repair with a small molecule.”
In January 2022, NeoPhore achieved all of its investment related scientific milestones significantly ahead of schedule. In February 2022, NeoPhore expanded its research partnership with St George’s, University of London after a successful collaboration investigating novel cancer immunotherapies, and in July 2022, the company entered a three-year research collaboration agreement with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) to further validate the potential of NeoPhore’s proprietary DNA mismatch repair inhibitor (MMRi) compounds to enhance tumour immunogenicity and induce tumour immunity.
Dr Matthew Baker, Chief Executive Officer of NeoPhore, added: “2022 was a year of progress for NeoPhore. Collaborating with such prominent leaders in the field allowed us to advance our goal of developing next-generation immuno-oncology therapeutics.
“It is known that drugs designed to spark cancer neoantigen creation and subsequently stimulate the immune system, can improve outcomes for patients who do not benefit from the current generation of cancer immunotherapies. We welcome the continued support from our investors that enables us to further develop our drug discovery pipeline.”
