CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eikonoklastes Therapeutics, a preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced the closing of a Series A financing round, less than a year after the company emerged from stealth with its seed financing.
Eikonoklastes is developing next-generation tissue factor (TF) immunotherapies to treat a broad range of cancers beginning with Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), an aggressive and often lethal form of breast cancer that comprises 15% of all breast cancers. The therapies also have the potential to address several other non-cancer diseases with significant unmet clinical need. The company has engineered molecules which attack three key components of the tumor microenvironment (the tumor cells, the diseased neovasculature, and tumor stem cells) by activating the body’s natural immune system and is therefore efficacious without harming normal cells.
The most recent round of funding, led by CincyTech with participation from New York-based Elk Capital Ventures and others, will support Investigational New Drug (IND) enabling studies for Eikonoklastes Therapeutics’ L-ICON3 immune conjugate platform. Details of the financing were not disclosed, but Eikonoklastes Chief Executive Officer, Bruce Halpryn, Ph.D., said the initial target was significantly oversubscribed.
Halpryn said the new investor syndicate will help Eikonoklastes meet its objective of treating one of the most deadly cancers in medicine and establish a foundation for future growth. “We are thrilled to welcome Elk Capital and Jobs Ohio to our strong base of investors, as we seek to develop innovative medicines to treat patients with cancer and other severe diseases with substantial unmet clinical need,” Halpryn said.
“We have made tremendous progress and have even bigger plans ahead of us,” said Sam Lee, MD/MBA co-founder and Chief Business Officer. “We will continue strategically allocating capital to efficiently develop L-ICON3 toward the clinic and expand our platform capabilities.”
“The Eikonoklastes management team has an impressive track record of building significant value,” said Tom Finn, independent board member of Eikonoklastes and retired president of Procter & Gamble Global Personal Health Care. “The Series A financing positions the company to continue forging ahead towards bringing much needed new medicines to patients.”
Jobs Ohio, Rev1, and other undisclosed investors also participated in the Series A financing.
ABOUT EIKONOKLASTES THERAPEUTICS
Eikonoklastes Therapeutics is advancing a new generation of tissue factor (TF) immunotherapies for the treatment of Triple Negative Breast Cancer and a broad range of other diseases with high morbidity and high unmet clinical needs. Eikonoklastes Therapeutics was founded and is led by a management team with longstanding experience of successful drug development. Working with The Ohio State University Corporate Engagement Office and seed investor CincyTech, the company was formed to advance technology discovered and engineered in the lab of Dr. Zhiwei Hu, MD, PhD, and licensed from the Ohio State Innovation Foundation. These novel and proprietary molecules are the third generation of technology that Dr. Hu initially designed while at Yale University.
More at: www.eikonoklastes.com.
