CG - Myricx Bio Announces £90m ($114m) Series A Financing to Advance its Novel NMTi-ADC Therapeutics into Clinical Development | Benzinga
- £90m ($114m) series A co-led by new leading life science investors Novo Holdings and Abingworth
- Additional new investors British Patient Capital, Cancer Research Horizons and Lilly participated alongside founding investors Brandon Capital and Sofinnova Partners
- Funds will be used to build out Myricx Bio's proprietary N-Myristoyltransferase inhibitor (NMTi) antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) payload platform and advance its pipeline of NMTi-ADCs through clinical proof of concept targeting clinically validated tumour-associated antigens
- Company to establish laboratory operations in London's biotech hub, and expand its management and R&D teams
- Michael Bauer from Novo Holdings and Lucille Conroy from Abingworth will join Myricx Bio Board of Directors
LONDON, July 08, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myricx Bio (‘Myricx'), a UK biotech company focusing on the discovery and development of a completely novel class of payloads for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), today announced the closing of its series A financing raising £90m ($114m). The round was co-led by new leading life science investors Novo Holdings and Abingworth. Additional new investors British Patient Capital (a wholly owned commercial subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the UK government's economic development bank), Cancer Research Horizons and Eli Lilly and Company also participated alongside founding investors Brandon Capital and Sofinnova Partners.
In connection with the financing, Michael Bauer from Novo Holdings and Lucille Conroy from Abingworth will join Myricx's Board of Directors.
The funds will be used to build out Myricx's proprietary N-Myristoyltransferase inhibitor (NMTi) ADC payload platform and to advance its pipeline of NMTi-ADCs through clinical proof of concept targeting clinically validated tumour-associated antigens.
NMT is an enzyme that adds a specific lipid modification to several protein targets that are key to cancer cell survival. Myricx is advancing a pipeline of ADCs to address serious unmet needs in oncology based on its NMTi payload chemistry platform and has demonstrated excellent preclinical efficacy and safety across multiple solid tumour-associated antigens and cancer cell types.
Myricx has shown that its initial NMTi-ADCs achieve complete and durable tumour regressions, at well-tolerated doses, in multiple solid cancer models that are refractory to Topo1i-based ADCs. In addition, these NMTi-ADCs demonstrate potent bystander activity, and deliver high efficacy in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) organoid models across a broad range of antigen expression levels.
Michael Bauer, Partner in the Venture Investments group at Novo Holdings, 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 opportunities for new treatment options for patients. This investment reflects our strategy of investing in highly innovative and high impact biotechs, and we look forward to supporting the progress of Myricx through the clinic."
Lucille Conroy, Principal at Abingworth, said: "We were impressed by the compelling preclinical data validating Myricx's first-in-class payload platform based on NMT inhibition. We are pleased to co-lead the investment with Novo Holdings and to be working with the company to advance its NMTi-ADC candidates to address serious unmet needs in oncology by offering new options to patients."
Jonathan Tobin, Partner at Brandon Capital, said: "Having recognised the potential of NMT inhibitors as a powerful ADC payload, what Robin and the Myricx team have generated to validate that potential over the past year is truly impressive. Together with Sofinnova, we are delighted to welcome the new investors into ...