Backed by Johnson & Johnson, Fusion Pharma Launches With $25 Million
February 23, 2017
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
HAMILTON, Ontario –Backed by the likes of Johnson & Johnson Innovation and TPG Biotech, startup Fusion Pharmaceuticals comes out of the gate with $25 million in Series A financing, which will be used to develop cancer-treating radiotherapeutics.
Targeted alpha-particle emitting radiotherapeutics combine the precision of molecular targeting agents, such as antibodies with the potency of alpha-particle emitting radioisotopes to specifically attack and eradicate cancer cells, according to company information.
Fusion Pharmaceuticals is a spinout from the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization (CPDC), an organization founded in 2008 by Dr. John Valliant, who is also the chief executive officer of Fusion. The CPDC was created to use promising new technologies developed in the universities and develop them into products to better the health of Canadians.
The company will use the $25 million in financing to advance work on its lead program FPX-01 and carry that into the clinic. FPX-01 is an antibody-targeted radiotherapy, which seeks out a specific biomarker of resistance that is present on nearly all types of treatment refractory cancers. The technology is designed to selectively deliver actinium-225 to tumor cells so that in conjunction with internalization, the alpha particles emitted will eradicate diseased tissue, the company said in its statement.
Additionally, Fusion gained access to a centyrin-based targeting molecule in preclinical development that has the potential to deliver isotopes to several cancer types and access to the centyrin protein targeting platform in two licensing agreements with Janssen Biotech in transactions facilitated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, the company said. Centyrins are protein targeting agents, proprietary to Janssen Biotech, characterized by high selectivity and specificity, combined with tunable pharmaceutical properties and efficient manufacturing.
“Targeted delivery of medical isotopes that emit alpha particles can be used to kill tumor cells with remarkable precision and unprecedented potency, and it has the added potential of having complementary effects with treatments which activate the immune system,” Valliant said in a statement. “Fusion is focused on combining our expertise in radiopharmaceutical development and production with the appropriate targeting molecules to create a new generation of therapeutics that can address the need for better cancer treatments.”
In addition to J&J and TPG, other investors in Fusion include HealthCap, Genesys Capital and FACIT (Fight Against Cancer Innovation Trust). HealthCap has been successful in developing other radiotherapeutic companies, such as Algeta and Nordic Nanovector.
In addition to CEO Valliant, Fusion’s board of directors include Asish Xavier of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Robert Sutherland, of the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization, Johan Christensen of HealthCap and Damian Lamb of Genesys. Lamb will assume the role of chairman of the board, the company said in its statement.