InflamaX Pharmaceuticals Announces Completion of Tens of Millions RMB Pre-A Financing to Advance Lead Candidate MAX-001 into First-in-Human Clinical Trials
VCBeat Exclusive: Guangzhou, China and St. Louis, USA – January 21, 2025,Anyanda Pharma (“Anyanda” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage innovative drug development company specializing in the field of immuno-inflammation, announced the completion of financing led byGaochuangxi Venture CapitalSecured tens of millions of RMB in Pre-A financing as the exclusive lead investor. The proceeds from this round will be primarily used to support AnYanDa’s core pipeline, MAX-001, in conducting its first-in-human clinical trials for the treatment of advanced refractory solid tumors in China and Australia.
An Yanda Pharmaceuticals was founded inEstablished in 2022, it is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical technology company based in Guangzhou, focusing on the development of innovative drugs in the field of immuno-inflammation for the treatment of cancer, pain, and neurological disorders.diseases, including osteoarthritis and other conditions. The company’s scientific team believes that the tissue microenvironment determines how the body’s immune system responds to its surroundings; even minor alterations in the extracellular matrix can lead to excessive or insufficient immune/inflammatory responses, thereby contributing to the onset and progression of disease. The company’s drug candidates are specifically designed to target key mechanisms and pathways within the tissue microenvironment, with the aim of correcting aberrant immune-inflammatory responses in pathological states.
Currently, Anyanda Pharmaceuticals has four clinical candidate drugs in development within its product portfolio. Additionally, the company’s preclinical drug discovery department is synthesizing and identifying new compounds targeting various key immune-inflammatory pathways.
Micky D. Tortorella, Founder and CEO of Anyanda PharmaceuticalsIt stated: “The high concentration of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in the tumor microenvironment has attracted attention from both academia and the pharmaceutical industry. PGE2 is a class of metabolites produced by the COX-2 enzyme, which is highly expressed in tumor cells. By binding to GPCRs (EP1, EP2, EP3, and/or EP4) on the cell membrane surface of various types of immune cells, it can significantly suppress the body’s immune system ability to combat tumors. This is an important reason for tumor immune escape and a key factor in the widespread resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors. The company’s inaugural pipeline is”MAX-001It is a new generation of highly selective COX-2 inhibitors featuring a novel chemical scaffold, capable of significantly reducing PGE2 levels in the tumor microenvironment at lower dose levels, thereby restoring normal immune function. In several key physicochemical and medicinal chemistry parameters,MAX-001Significantly superior to older-generation COX-2 inhibitors such as celecoxib, we believeMAX-001It is the world's only selective COX-2 inhibitor with the potential for pan-cancer therapy, and the company looks forward to bringing it to market as soon as possible.MAX-001 Combined with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors“advancing to the pivotal clinical trial stage for late-stage cancer. We sincerely appreciate Gaocreate Ventures’ strong support and confidence in Anyanda, and we warmly welcome more investors to collaborate with the Anyanda team to accelerate the translational development of our innovative drugs.”
Dr. Chen Longhui, Gaochuangxi Venture Capitalstated: “Immune checkpoint inhibitors, represented by PD-1/L1 antibody drugs, have become first-line/standard therapies for various advanced solid tumors. Moreover, the pharmaceutical industry is extensively developing next-generation cancer immunotherapies targeting other immune cell surface molecules such as CTLA-4, Lag-3, Tim-3, and Tigit. In addition, T-cell engager (TCE) therapy and adoptive T-cell therapy (including CAR-T, TCR-T, and TIL) have shown broad therapeutic potential in solid tumors. However, these therapies are negatively regulated by high concentrations of PGE2 in the tumor microenvironment. Therefore, ‘clearing’PGE2 in the tumor microenvironment is poised to significantly unlock the therapeutic potential of T cell-centric cancer immunotherapies. We are delighted to see AnyandaMAX-001It has demonstrated such potential in multiple key preclinical parameter tests, and we also look forward toMAX-001can enter the pivotal clinical trial phase at an earlier stage.”
InflamaX Pharmaceuticals Announces a Succesful Pre-A Financing
Guangzhou, China (& Saint Louis, United States). January 21st, 2025 - InflamaX Pharmaceuticals ("InflamaX" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage, innovative drug research and development company specializing in the field of immuno-inflammation, announces today the completion of series Pre-A investment of tens of millions of RMB, exclusively led by GCX Ventures. This round of financing will be used to support the fist human clinical trials of MAX-001, one of InflamaX's core products for the treatment of difficult to treat solid tumors. Clinical trials to be conducted in China and Australia.
Micky D. Tortorella, Founder and CEO of InflamaX Pharmaceuticals, stated: "The high concentrations of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) found in the tumor microenvironment has attracted a lot of attention by academic researchers and the pharmaceutical industry. PGE2 is a metabolite produced by the COX-2 enzyme, which is highly expressed in tumor cells. By binding to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), including EP1, EP2, EP3, and/or EP4, found on the surface of various types of immune cells, PGE2 can significantly suppress the immune system's ability to fight tumors. This is a primary reason why tumors escape the immune system and is a key factor for the resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors observed in many patients. Our lead candidate MAX-001 is a next-generation, selective COX-2 inhibitor with a novel chemical scaffold. At low concentrations, the drug can significantly reduce PGE2 levels in the tumor microenvironment, restoring proper immune function. In our opinion, MAX-001 is the only selective COX-2 inhibitor that can be used universally for cancer therapy because it possesses several key physicochemical properties not found in the older COX-2 drugs like Celebrex. We look forward to advancing MAX-001 into clinical trials in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors for PD-1 resistant cancers. We sincerely thank GCX Ventures for their strong support and confidence in InflamaX. We also warmly welcome more investors to collaborate with InflamaX to accelerate the development and translation of our innovative pipelines of drugs."
Dr. Longhui Chen from GCX Ventures commented: "Immune checkpoint inhibitors, represented by PD-1/L1 antibody drugs, have become frontline/standard therapies for many advanced solid tumors. The pharmaceutical industry is also actively developing next-generation cancer immunotherapies targeting other immune cell surface targets, such as CTLA-4, Lag-3, Tim-3, and Tigit. Additionally, T cell engager (TCE) therapies and T cell adoptive therapies (including CAR-T, TCR-T, and TIL) have shown broad therapeutic potential in solid tumors. However, these therapies are negated in many patients due to the high concentration of PGE2 in the tumor microenvironment. Therefore, 'cleansing' of PGE2 from the tumor microenvironment could significantly unleash the therapeutic potential of T cell-centric cancer immunotherapies. We are pleased to see that InflamaX's pioneering asset, MAX-001, has demonstrated such potential in multiple preclinical key parameter tests, and we look forward to MAX-001 advancing into critical clinical testing stages as soon as possible."
About InflamaX:
Founded in 2022, InflamaX is a clinical-stage biotechnology company located in Guangzhou that specializes in making new medicines that target immuno-inflammation as a means for treating various diseases including cancers, pain, neurological diseases and osteoarthritis. It is our belief that the tissue microenvironment determines how the immune system responds to its surrounding environment. Small changes in the extracellular matrix can cause an over-reaction or under-reaction in the immune/inflammatory response resulting in disease. Our drugs target key mechanisms and pathways in the tissue microenvironment that correct this incorrect immune/inflammatory response. We currently have 4 clinical candidate drugs in our portfolio and also have a preclinical drug discovery arm that is making new compounds against various immuno-inflammation based targets.