Just as it comes up to its first birthday, Blend Therapeutics, a startup backed by Robert Langer of MIT, has bagged $16 million in Series B financing, and welcomed Mark Iwicki, formerly of Sunovion Pharmaceuticals and Sepracor, as its new president and CEO. The company will use the cash to expand the R&D of its new classes of platinum drugs through preclinical development toward IND filings. Its oncology focus includes a proprietary portfolio of mono-functional platinums that have an entirely different mode of DNA platination. The molecules are tailored specifically to the company's nanoparticle delivery systems. Press release on the funding | Press release on the new CEO