SAN DIEGO--- Conforma Therapeutics Completes Round of Private Financing to Support Clinical Development; Additional $11 Million
Conforma Therapeutics Corporation today announced that it closed the final tranche of its Series C financing, securing an additional $11 million and bringing the total Series C funding to $41.5 million. Major participating investors included Domain Associates, Forward Ventures, Inglewood Ventures, Lilly BioVentures, Novo A/S, ProQuest Investments, RBC Capital Partners, RiverVest Venture Partners, and S.R. One, Limited, all of whom were original investors in the Series C round.
The funding will be used to advance the clinical development of Conforma's portfolio of small molecule oncology drugs that are directed against the HSP90 family of cellular chaperones. The Company is in Phase I clinical testing with its first drug, CNF1010, and is planning to begin human testing of CNF2024 later this year.
"Our investors have responded enthusiastically to the progress of our product pipeline," said Lawrence C. Fritz, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Conforma. "This additional funding represents a strong vote of confidence in our approach to cancer therapy and the potential of our products. We will apply the additional capital to our expanding clinical development efforts, especially the initiation of human trials with our new totally synthetic oral HSP90 antagonist, CNF2024."
Conforma's most advanced product, CNF1010, is a small molecule inhibitor of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90). CNF1010 contains a new proprietary form of the geldanamycin derivative 17-AAG, in a novel, optimized formulation. CNF1010 is currently in Phase I clinical testing for the treatment of cancer. Conforma's second product, CNF2024, is the first totally synthetic oral HSP90 inhibitor to be nominated for clinical development. CNF2024 is expected to enter the clinic in cancer patients later this year.
About Heat Shock Protein 90 (HSP90)
HSP90 is a molecular chaperone protein that regulates the folding and degradation of key signaling molecules in cells. HSP90 has emerged as an important drug target for anticancer agents because it is specifically activated in tumor cells where it controls multiple oncogenes that are critical to the proliferation and survival of the tumor. As a result, HSP90-directed drugs have the potential to inhibit the growth of a wide range of cancer cells in both solid tumors and blood-based cancers.
About Conforma Therapeutics
Conforma Therapeutics, a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company, is focused on the design and development of novel drugs for the treatment of cancer. Conforma is developing drugs that target the cellular HSP90 family of molecular chaperones that control protein shape or conformation, including that of key signaling molecules involved in the growth and survival of tumor cells. HSP90-directed drugs selectively induce the degradation of these cancer-promoting proteins, leading to tumor cell death. In addition to cancer, Conforma's technology also promises to have applications in other areas of medicine, including inflammation, virology, and central nervous system disorders. Conforma is conducting Phase I clinical trials with its lead product, CNF1010, for the treatment of cancer, and is planning to enter the clinic with its second oncology product, CNF2024, in the second half of 2005. Conforma is also developing a pipeline of additional differentiated, molecularly targeted oncology products. Further information regarding Conforma is available at www.conformacorp.com.