LAM Therapeutics Scores $58 Million and a New Clinical Program in Cancer

GUILFORD, CT--(Marketwired - March 30, 2017) - LAM Therapeutics, a 4Catalyzer company that develops drugs for cancer and rare diseases, announced that it has closed $58M in Series C financing. 4Catalyzer is Connecticut’s premier biotechnology incubator and has raised over a quarter billion dollars to support its current class of startups.

LAM Therapeutics’ strategy
LAM accelerates drug development by integrating genomics and proteomics technologies with deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) to match clinical drugs to new indications.

“This week’s Bert Vogelstein paper in Science showed us that next-generation sequencing and math can help us to understand cancer,” said Dr. Jonathan Rothberg, a LAM co-founder and the recipient of the National Medal of Technology for inventing next-generation sequencing. “Sequencing coupled with deep learning is going to enable us to cure cancer.”

“LAM is at the forefront of transforming how we match drugs to patients for best response,” said LAM co-founder, Dr. Tian Xu. “We call our strategy the ‘virtuous circle.’ We test LAM drugs in patients, and then analyze the data with genomics and proteomics. Our deep learning AI technology gets smarter with each patient treated and more data analyzed, which helps us select the most appropriate patients to treat.”

LAM-003 update
LAM has identified and acquired a new clinical drug, LAM-003, an orally active, small-molecule, immune-modulating, anti-cancer drug. The drug has completed a Phase 1 clinical trial and will now be tested in hematological malignancies as a single agent and in combination therapy.

LAM-002 update
This month in Blood (Volume 129, Issue 13: 1768 - 1778) and Autophagy (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2017.1304871) LAM published apilimod (LAM-002) as a first-in-class PIKfyve kinase inhibitor with broad anti-cancer activity across all subtypes of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL). The findings provide a novel mechanistic strategy for LAM’s ongoing trial in B-NHL.

LAM-001 update
LAM-001 exhibited excellent safety and pharmacokinetics in a Phase 1 trial and will now be tested in a clinical trial in lymphangioleiomyomatosis patients.

LAM adds Dr. Peter Young to its management team
LAM also announced the appointment of Peter Young as Head of Research and Translational Science.

“This next year will be transformational for LAM as we expand our pipeline of targeted agents and bring new drugs to patients,” said LAM co-founder, President and CEO, Dr. Henri Lichenstein. “Peter’s experience in biomarkers and their clinical applications is a perfect fit for LAM’s precision medicine approach.”

A 25-year drug development veteran, Peter has worked in multiple therapeutic areas including oncology, autoimmunity/inflammation, hematology, metabolic and viral disease. He contributed to the discovery and development of Imbruvica^® and associated biomarkers for hematological cancer, Promacta^® for idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura, and Nucala^®, for severe eosinophilic asthma.

Join Us
To achieve his vision for LAM Therapeutics, Dr. Rothberg has brought together a unique team with deep experience in genomics, computational biology, AI, and drug development.

“We bring together teams to do things no one has done before and to produce products that someday could save the life of someone you love,” said Dr. Rothberg. “We are always looking for gifted people to join 4Catalyzer companies. If you make chips like Gordon Moore, lasers like Charles Townes, or break codes like Hedy Lamarr, come join us.”

About LAM Therapeutics
LAM Therapeutics develops precision therapeutics and companion diagnostics for cancer and rare diseases. LAM accelerates drug development by deploying technologies including next-gen sequencing, genome editing, chemical genomics, and combinational drug screening, with deep learning to match clinical drugs to new indications. LAM has advanced two drugs into clinical trials: LAM-001 for lymphangioleiomyomatosis, and LAM-002 for B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and is preparing to advance LAM-003 into the clinic for hematological malignancies.

About 4Catalyzer
4Catalyzer is a startup accelerator dedicated to transforming 21st century healthcare by solving the most challenging problems in the life sciences and medicine. We pair breakthrough therapeutics or sensors with deep learning to enable a unique window into biology and medicine. At 4Catalyzer we are driven to develop products that someday could save the life of someone you love.