Artios Pharma Ltd., a Cambridge, UK-based developer of novel cancer treatments targeting the DNA Damage Response (DDR), launched following a $33.2m (£25m) Series A financing.
Backers included SV Life Sciences, Merck Ventures, Imperial Innovations, Arix Bioscience PLC, CRT Pioneer Fund (managed by Sixth Element Capital), and AbbVie Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to build a pipeline of DDR therapies targeted against cancer and to progress its lead programme, Pol-theta, into the clinic.
Established in May 2016 by Chief Executive Officer Dr. Niall Martin, Artios is an independent DDR company focused on developing treatments for cancer through a partnership with Cancer Research Technology (CRT), the development and commercialisation arm of Cancer Research UK (CRUK), and with DNA repair researchers worldwide.
Based at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, UK, the company has in-licensed two programs against novel targets, Pol-theta and a second target, as yet undisclosed, from CRT. Both programs are in the drug discovery phase.