Burlingame, CA, June 10th, 2010 – Igenica, Inc., today announced it has completed a $24 million Series B round of financing. The Series B round was led by The Column Group, OrbiMed Advisors and 5AM Ventures.
“Igenica is using its novel technology platforms to create breakthrough antibody-based therapeutics to address the unmet medical needs of cancer patients,” stated Mike Rothe, PhD, Chief Executive Officer. “This financing will allow us to expand and accelerate our drug discovery and development efforts significantly.”
Igenica has developed two unique technology platforms that collectively offer a function-orientated screening strategy to systematically discover new tumor antigens and effective antibody drug candidates. The sTAg platform is an innovative proteomics-based technology designed to identify new surface antigens that are amenable to antibody targeting in cancer settings. The iTAb technology is a monoclonal antibody discovery platform which provides a function-based, de novo methodology for generating and screening monoclonal antibody drug candidates against novel or established tumor antigens.
“Igenica’s technology is ideally positioned to develop cancer antibodies that will function as first-in-class and best-in-class therapeutics on their own or in combination with current treatments,” said David V. Goeddel, PhD, Managing Partner at The Column Group and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Igenica.
Recombinant monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) remain one of the most promising hopes for cancer treatments because their selectivity offers the ability to eliminate the tumors without generating significant toxicity for patients. However, only a handful of mAb based therapeutics are on the market today for cancer. With an experienced team in antibody discovery and development, Igenica will focus on addressing the key challenges in antibody development by platforms that identify new unique markers for the tumor cells and screen for more effective antibodies.
“We are impressed with the advances that the company has made since starting operations in early 2009,” commented John Diekman, PhD, Managing Partner at 5AM and Director of Igenica. “The company is continuing to assemble a world-class team to grow its business and offer multiple opportunities for drug development partnering in the future,” added Carl Gordon, PhD, General Partner at OrbiMed Advisors and Director of Igenica.
About Igenica Igenica, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering breakthrough antibody-based cancer medicines. The company has integrated innovative technology platforms to address the major challenges to developing effective treatments for multiple oncology indications, with sTAg, a new approach to discovering and prioritizing novel tumor antigens, and iTAb, a functional in vivo antibody screening approach. Collectively, the two technology platforms drive Igenica’s drug discovery efforts and promise to identify novel and more effective cancer therapeutics. For more information, please visit the company’s website at http://www.igenica.com.
