Azeria Therapeutics, a Cambridge, UK-based drug discovery company, raised £32m in Series B financing.
The round was led by Syncona, which committed £29.5m, alongside existing investor the CRT Pioneer Fund. In conjunction with the deal, Magda Jonikas and Martin Murphy of Syncona will now join the Board of Azeria.
Originally founded in 2017 by Sixth Element Capital, manager of the CRT Pioneer Fund and Cancer Research UK’s Commercial Partnerships team, Azeria is a pioneer factor oncology company, developing treatments for hormone resistant breast cancer patients. It was based on the work of leading expert in the field, Professor Jason Carroll at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, UK, whose scientific insights have led to a new approach to target FOXA1 driven cancer.
FOXA1 is an essential pioneer factor which has been shown to be pivotal in the tumour growth, progression and maintenance of oestrogen receptor positive luminal breast cancer. Extensive target validation and drug discovery work to date supports the lead program, with a plan to take it into the clinic over the course of the Series B funding. Azeria is seeking to develop the program to commercialization and to explore a pipeline of further programmes in oncology.
The company is led by Stephen Myatt, Chief Executive Officer.
FinSMEs
21/11/2019