TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals Completes $32 Million Series C Financing
Funds to Advance Novel SMAC Mimetic Cancer Drug Candidate through Phase 2a
MALVERN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company developing novel small molecule drugs to treat cancer, today announced it has completed a $32 million Series C financing with new investor Clarus Ventures leading the round. Also participating in the financing was new investor Hatteras Venture Partners and existing investors Amgen Ventures, HealthCare Ventures, Latterell Venture Partners, Novitas Capital, Quaker BioVentures and the Vertical Group. In conjunction with the financing, Michael Steinmetz, Ph.D., a Managing Director of Clarus Ventures, and Douglas Reed, M.D., a General Partner of Hatteras Venture Partners, have joined TetraLogic's Board of Directors.
Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance clinical development of TL32711, TetraLogic's lead drug candidate for the treatment of cancer. TL32711 is a SMAC mimetic that neutralizes the activity of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) that block tumor cell death. TL32711 is being evaluated in a Phase 1 study as a single agent in patients with solid tumors and lymphoma refractory to standard therapies.
"SMAC mimetics are a novel class of cancer therapeutics with the potential to enable treatment of solid and hematological cancers that would otherwise be resistant to therapy," said Michael Steinmetz, Ph.D., Managing Director of Clarus Ventures. "We are encouraged by TL32711's preclinical and early clinical data that it may fulfill the broad potential of an effective targeted pro-apoptotic therapy."
"The support from our premier group of investors further validates our enthusiasm for the potential of TL32711 to treat cancer," said John Gill, TetraLogic's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We now have the resources to complete the ongoing single agent Phase 1a study, complete a Phase 1b/2a study of TL32711 in combination with several standard of care chemotherapies and to continue to develop and validate related biomarkers."
About TL32711
TL32711 is a small molecule peptidomimetic of SMAC (an endogenous regulator of apoptotic cell death) that selectively antagonizes multiple inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs). Apoptosis, a process of programmed cell death, is the primary way that cancer cells are destroyed by standard therapies and also by the body's biological responses to cancer. IAPs enable cancer cells to resist being destroyed. SMAC mimetics in preclinical studies have been shown to neutralize IAPs, and thus, overcome resistance and enable cancer cell destruction. TL32711 has demonstrated preclinical anti-tumor activity that supports its clinical development for solid tumor and hematological malignancies as a monotherapy and in combination with other anti-cancer therapies.
About TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals
TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals is a privately held biopharmaceutical company that discovers and develops small molecule drugs that modulate programmed cell death pathways to treat debilitating diseases and conditions. The Company's most advanced SMAC mimetics neutralize selected IAPs to treat cancer. Earlier programs are focused on discovering and developing SMAC mimetics to treat certain autoimmune and inflammation related diseases and conditions.
TetraLogic's investors include Amgen Ventures, Clarus Ventures, Hatteras Venture Partners, HealthCare Ventures, Kammerer Associates, Latterell Venture Partners, Novitas Capital, Quaker BioVentures and the Vertical Group. For additional information, please refer to the Company's website at www.tetralogicpharma.com.