Accent Therapeutics Secures $75M Series C Financing Backed by Four MNCs to Advance Novel Small Molecule Oncology Programs Targeting DHX9 and KIF18A

Jan 24, 2024 07:00 CST Updated 07:00

Accent Therapeutics

RNA Modification Targeted Drug Developer

Mirae Asset Capital Life Science

Venture Capital Firms

Mirae Asset Capital

Credit Financing Company

Mirae Asset Venture Investments

Financial Group

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Biopharmaceutical and Nutritional Product R&D and Sales

Johnson & Johnson Innovation

Venture Capital Firms

The Column Group

Venture Capital Firms

Atlas Venture

Early-Stage Venture Capital Firms

DROIA

Specialized Investors Focused on Oncology Therapy Development

GV

Google's Investment Fund

EcoR1 Capital

Venture Capital Firms

AbbVie Biotech Ventures

A Global, Research-Driven Biopharmaceutical Venture Capital Firm

Timefolio Capital

Venture Capital Firms

January 23,Lexington, Massachusetts – Accent Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering novel small molecule precision cancer therapies, announced the completion of a $75 million Series C financing. The round was led by Mirae Asset Capital Life Science, with new investors including Mirae Asset Capital, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Johnson & Johnson Innovation, alongside all existing investors such as The Column Group, Atlas Venture, Droia Ventures, GV, EcoR1 Capital, AbbVie Ventures, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, Timefolio Capital (formerly NS Investment), and other firms. This follows the company’s $63 million Series B financing in 2020 to develop novel precision cancer drugs targeting RNA-modifying proteins. In conjunction with the financing, Dr. Naveen Krishnan, Managing Director at Mirae Asset Capital Life Science, will join the company’s board of directors.$50 Million Life Science Fund to Support Biotech Financing）

The proceeds from the financing will be used to support the progress of two leading projects—Accent Therapeutics' first DHX9 inhibitor and a potential best-in-class KIF18A inhibitor—through early clinical development, including safety, pharmacokinetics, and early efficacy studies.

Dr. Shakti Narayan, CEO of Accent Therapeutics, stated:"We are thrilled to announce the support of a distinguished consortium of investors who share our commitment to advancing innovative therapies for cancer patients. These additional resources will enable us to file INDs for the DXH9 and KIF18A programs this year and rapidly advance these programs through early clinical development."

Accent Therapeutics is developing treatments for new and known but sub-optimally addressed, high-impact oncology targets, with the potential to benefit a large patient population. The company’s DHX9 inhibitors aim to address high unmet need indications, including BRCA loss-of-function cancers (breast cancer, ovarian cancer), mismatch repair-deficient cancers (dMMR), or microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H).CancerSymptom(Colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, gastric cancer) and other undisclosed cancer types. Accent Therapeutics' second major project, a KIF18A inhibitor, also has the potential to benefit a large number of patients, including those with ovarian cancer and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

In 2020, Accent Therapeutics and AstraZeneca established a transformative partnership to discover, develop, and commercialize novel therapies targeting RNA Modification Proteins (RMP) for cancer treatment. This collaboration aims to rapidly advance and realize the significant therapeutic potential of exciting projects under the partnership by combining AstraZeneca's strong track record in developing novel oncology drugs with Accent Therapeutics' industry-leading expertise in RMP-targeted therapy biology, target identification, and drug discovery. Accent Therapeutics received a $55 million upfront payment and is eligible to receive up to approximately $1.1 billion in additional milestones under a co-development and co-commercialization arrangement, plus tiered royalties.

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