CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cedilla Therapeutics, a biotechnology company bringing a new dimension to precision oncology, today announced that it has raised an additional $25 million in an expansion of its Series B financing, bringing the total amount raised to $82.6 million. The oversubscribed Series B expansion includes new investors RA Capital Management, Janus Henderson Investors, Woodline Partners LP and Logos Capital, along with participation from existing investor Third Rock Ventures.
“We are grateful for the support from our new and existing investors, which reflects the promise of our novel approach to conditionally modulating proteins as well as the unique potential of our lead programs, inhibitors against TEAD and CDK2, two critical but historically undruggable targets,” said Alexandra Glucksmann, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Cedilla Therapeutics. “With this financing, we plan to accelerate and expand our development efforts by progressing our most advanced programs toward the clinic while continuing to invest in ongoing discovery efforts against additional high value cancer targets.”
Proceeds from the financing will support Cedilla’s continued growth and development of its two lead programs, an inhibitor of TEAD for the treatment of solid tumors, such as mesothelioma and certain squamous cell carcinomas, and a highly selective inhibitor of CDK2/Cyclin E for the treatment of multiple tumor types, including CDK4/6-resistant breast cancer, ovarian, uterine, stomach and esophageal cancers. The company plans to initiate investigational new drug application-enabling studies for the TEAD program in the first half of 2022 and for the CDK2 program in the second half of 2022.
In conjunction with the financing, Jake Simson, Ph.D., Partner at RA Capital Management, joins Cedilla’s Board of Directors.
Dr. Glucksmann continued, “We are pleased to welcome Jake to our Board of Directors. He brings a wealth of experience advising companies from the earliest stages of company formation through their maturation into fully integrated biopharmaceutical organizations. We look forward to his many contributions as we continue to grow Cedilla into a clinical-stage organization with a robust and growing portfolio of product candidates.”
“Cedilla brings a new dimension to precision oncology by conditionally modulating proteins in their functional state,” said Jake Simson, Ph.D., Partner at RA Capital Management. “Preclinical data generated to-date suggest that Cedilla’s lead programs may challenge historical perceptions of TEAD and CDK2 as undruggable targets and could offer patients new options that would be well-tolerated and extremely effective. In addition, Cedilla’s approach, based on a deep understanding of how the cellular context modulates protein activity, could deliver superior inhibitors against a range of other key cancer drivers. I look forward to partnering with the team with the aim to deliver a broad portfolio of small molecule medicines, each with potential profound benefit to patients.”
About Cedilla Therapeutics
Cedilla Therapeutics is bringing a new dimension to precision oncology. We have discovered new ways to selectively inhibit oncogenic drivers with small molecules that conditionally modulate proteins in their functional state. Our conditional inhibitors are unlocking critical and elusive cancer targets including TEAD and CDK2. We are a driven and patient-focused team. Follow our journey at www.cedillatx.com and LinkedIn.
