Myricx Bio, a antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) payload developer, has announced the closing of its series A financing, which raised USD $114m.
The round was co-led by life science investors Novo Holdings and Abingworth.
New investors also included British Patient Capital, Eli Lilly and Cancer Research Horizons, who participated alongside the founding investors Brandon Capital and Sofinnova Partners.
Due to the agreement, Lucille Conroy from Abingworth and Michael Bauer from Novo Holdings will join Myricx's Board of Directors.
Where will the money go?
Myricx plans to allocate the acquired funds into its N-Myristoyltransferase inhibitor (NMTi) ADC payload platform, as well as to advance its pipeline of NMTi-ADCs for turmour-associated antigen targeting.
NMT is an enzyme that's specifically involved in modifying protein targets which are crucial to cancer cell survival.
To address the unmet needs in oncology, Myricx is developing a pipeline of ADCs that can utilise NMTs to deliver a cytotoxic payload to cancer cells, therefore offering a more personalised and specific cancer treatment to traditional chemotherapies.
The company has shown that its NMTi-ADC prototypes can achieve complete and durable tumour regressions at well-tolerated doses in multiple solid cancer models.
Partner in the Venture Investments group at Novo Holdings, Michael Bauer, said: “Myricx has gained unique insights into the biology of NMT and its orthogonal and differentiated mechanism. The scientific rationale behind its novel payload chemistry gives us confidence that NMTi-ADCs have the potential to greatly expand the current repertoire of ADC applications beyond the current standard-of-care payload classes, creating new treatment opportunities for patients.”
