DURHAM, NC—Serenex Inc., which is developing treatments for cancer and other illnesses, has raised a $31 million financing that includes four new investors.
The round was oversubscribed and included new investors Cornell Capital Partners, Pearl Street Ventures, MC Life Science Ventures and Pac-Link Bio Venture Capital as well as existing investors Ritchie Capital, Intersouth Partners, Lilly Ventures, Mediphase Venture Partners, Takeda Research Investment and Seaflower Ventures.
The financing consisted of $26 million venture backing and a $5 million working capital debt facility.
Serenex plans to use the proceeds from the financing to fund the clinical development of its two oncology product candidates, SNX-1012 and SNX-5422 and to advance promising antifungal, anti-neurodegenerative, antiviral and other non-oncology programs from the company’s broad family of Heat Shock Protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitors.
Hsp90 is responsible for chaperoning a large number of oncogenic proteins that are necessary to support cancer cell survival and growth. Inhibition of Hsp90 has demonstrated very promising anti-tumor activity, especially when used in combination with other targeted anti-cancer agents.
“We are very excited to partner with Serenex, especially following recent accomplishments, including the start of the phase 1 study for SNX-5422 and the filing of several broad Hsp90-related patents,” said Michael Nowak of Cornell Capital Partners.
“Serenex’s many strengths include an experienced management team, two valuable assets in SNX-1012 and SNX-5422, a proven discovery platform and a promising pre-clinical pipeline.”
SNX-1012 is a molecule for chemotherapy and radiation-induced oral mucositis in solid tumor patients and is scheduled to complete phase 2 clinical trials in late-2007.
Oral mucositis, which represents a large and underserved market, frequently causes clinicians to interrupt radiation and chemotherapy which directly leads to decreased rates of efficacy.
Four phase 1 trials of SNX-1012 have been successfully completed showing strong indications of pharmacological activity and an excellent safety profile.
For more see: www.serenex.com
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