HUMMELSTOWN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oncoceutics announced the closing of a Series A financing round, led by Spring Mountain Capital, LP, with participation by additional private investors.
The company will use the proceeds of the financing in conjunction with non-dilutive grant awards, public-private partnerships and academic alliances to continue the development of its lead drug compound, ONC201, a first-in-class, orally-active small molecule that penetrates the blood-brain barrier and exhibits strong anticancer activity in aggressive preclinical models of a number of different types of cancer, including lymphoma and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The company recently completed the first-in-man study of ONC201 at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and defined the recommended phase II dose (RP2D) that will be used in subsequent clinical studies.
"Oncoceutics' progress in the past year since our initial investment is impressive," said Raymond Wong, Managing Director and Head of Private Equity at SMC, and member of the Oncoceutics Board of Directors. "The company successfully completed a phase I study and is transitioning into several phase II trials, extended its IP position through the issuance of additional patents, and determined that ONC201 engages a clinically-validated signaling pathway by a novel trigger that is clearly distinct from available therapies. We are excited about deepening our partnership with Oncoceutics by leading this Series A financing round and look forward to bringing this potentially breakthrough first-in-class cancer drug to patients."
"We are very grateful for support from Spring Mountain Capital and our other private investors," said Lee Schalop, MD, Chief Business Officer and co-founder of Oncoceutics. "They have elected to significantly increase their investment in Oncoceutics based on our substantial progress since the closing of our Series Seed financing round a year ago. We'll be able to complete our Phase II program in both solid tumors and hematologic malignancies using the funds from this financing round along with additional resources available to our company from alliances and grant awards, including a recent award from National Cancer Institute."
Wolfgang Oster, MD PhD, CEO, Chairman and co-founder of Oncoceutics, added, "This funding round marks important progress for Oncoceutics that sets the stage to definitively prove the clinical value of its lead drug ONC201 and its analogs in cancer therapy. It demonstrates the mutual confidence our leadership team, supporters and collaborators have in the merit of our products."
"The promise that ONC201 holds and that may be extended through the portfolio of analogs under development could provide a significant benefit to several major cancer populations," commented Keith Flaherty, MD, Director of Developmental Therapeutics, Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, and a member of Oncoceutics' Scientific Advisory Board. "It is remarkable that this compound demonstrates potent anti-cancer effects in preclinical models, yet exhibits a benign safety profile as identified in the first human phase I study with ONC201."
About Oncoceutics
Oncoceutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage drug discovery and development company targeting the most potent suppressor pathways in human cancer. The first lead compound to result from this program is ONC201, a small molecule drug with a unique mechanism of action that causes significant anti-tumor activity in a variety of types of human cancer. The company is currently enrolling patients in clinical trials of ONC201 that began in January 2015, following acceptance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of Oncoceutics' Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ONC201 in 2014. Oncoceutics and collaborative organizations have received grants over the last two years from the National Institutes of Health, the Pennsylvania Department of Health and The Musella Foundation. The company has also leveraged additional funding for multiple Phase I/II clinical trials from academic medical research partners.
About Spring Mountain Capital
Founded in 2001 and located in New York City, Spring Mountain Capital, LP ("SMC") is a private investment management firm that focuses on alternative asset investing. SMC's Private Equity Group provides expansion stage capital to lower middle market companies that are capitalizing on breakthrough innovations, paradigm shifts or fundamental market or behavioral changes. The Private Equity Group at SMC focuses on the two sectors of the U.S. economy with the most change and highest growth potential: technology-enabled and healthcare businesses. Within these high-growth areas, it seeks to make value investments by capitalizing on market dislocations, information asymmetry, illiquidity and complexity. For further information, please visit http://www.springmountaincapital.com/.
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To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical, including statements as to revenue projections, business strategy, outlook, objectives, future milestones, plans, intentions, goals, future financial conditions, future collaboration agreements, the success of the Company's development, events conditioned on stockholder or other approval, or otherwise as to future events, such statements are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made.
Contacts
On behalf of Oncoceutics
Carinna Gano, 212-583-1043 EXT 217
[email protected]