The Lone Star State's Peloton Therapeutics Rakes in $52.4 Million
September 15, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
DALLAS – Cancer therapy company Peloton Therapeutics raked in $52.4 million in Series D financing to support the company’s preclinical and early clinical work with HIF2a antagonists for the treatment of kidney cancer.
The company is focused on the development of treatments of hypoxia-inducible factor-2a (HIF-2a) and its role in kidney cancer. Earlier this month the company published two papers in “Nature” highlighting the work the company is doing with its lead HIF2a antagonist PT2385, which is currently in a Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of advanced or metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) as monotherapy and in combination with the immuno-oncology agent nivolumab, which is marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb as Odivo. PT2385, is a first-in-class small molecule targeting hypoxia-inducible factor-2a (HIF-2a), a transcription factor implicated in the development and progression of kidney and other cancers.
The new round of financing will allow the company to push forward in exploring this option for treating kidney cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 62,000 new cases of kidney cancer will be diagnosed and more than 14,000 people will die from this disease this year.
John Josey, chief executive officer of Peloton, said in a statement that the financing round will allow the company to “realize the full potential of our HIF-2a antagonists and advance our other research programs.”
Investors in the $52.4 million financing round touted the work being done by Peloton. Jim Tananbaum, chief executive officer and managing director of Foresite Capital, one of the principle investors, hailed the work.
“The company’s lead program targeting hypoxia-inducible factor-2a (HIF-2a) has generated exciting responses in patients with renal cell carcinoma, with potential applications in von Hippel-Lindau disease, glioblastoma multiforme and other diseases with high unmet medical need,” Tananbaum said in a statement.
In June, Peloton presented interim data from its Phase I trial at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. During its presentation, the company said PT2385 was well tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicities and had pharmacologic activity with encouraging clinical efficacy. According to information provided by Peloton, 26 patients were enrolled in dose escalation and received PT2385 from 100 to 1800 mg twice per day. Patients were heavily pretreated prior to study entry, with greater than 50 percent having four or more prior therapies. Exposure increased with doses up to the 800 mg cohort without a further increase from 800 to 1800 mg. No dose limiting toxicities were observed at any dose level.
In addition to Foresite Capital, participants in the financing round include Remeditex LLC, The Column Group, Tichenor Ventures LLC, Topspin Fund LP, and Nextech Invest Ltd. Peloton said that as a result of the Series D financing, Foresite Capital Management will add an observer to Peloton’s board of directors.