June 15, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
New York – With $33 million in fresh financing, New York-based Rgenix aims to develop two cancer drugs that target cancer progression pathways, including one that was once shelved by pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline.
Privately-held Rgenix’s first drug in development, RGX-104, is expected to go into clinical trials later this year and is designed to target cancer progression pathways seen in multiple types of cancer. The drug was previously shelved by GlaxoSmithKline due to side effects, but Rgenix’ miRNA platform indicates a target of the drug could help stimulate the body’s own immune system to attack cancer cells. RGX-104 targets the Liver X receptor, which was the target that caused GSK so much trouble with the drug, Xconomy noted this morning. So far, no drug targeting the Liver X receptor has made it past Phase I trials, Xconomy said.
RGX-104 is a small molecule that reverses immune evasion and drug resistance by targeting immunosuppressive cells in the tumor microenvironment via a novel pathway, resulting in strong anti-tumor activity in several drug-resistant cancer types in pre-clinical models, both as a single agent and in combination with approved immunotherapies such as PD-1 inhibitors.
RGX-104 has obtained Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in several solid tumor types of high-unmet need, and will enter clinical trials in the second half of 2016.
Masoud Tavazoie, chief executive officer and one of the co-founders of Rgenix, said the financing round validates the potential of RGX-104.
”The funding will enable our team to deliver an innovative therapy to cancer patients while simultaneously pushing forward our pipeline of other novel drug candidates,” Tavazoie said in a statement.
The other immunotherapy drug being developed by Rgenix is RGX-202, a small molecule that inhibits a novel cancer metabolism pathways. In pre-clinical work, RGX-202 has shown promise in stimulating immune responses in several prevalent cancer types, including colon cancer, lung cancer and lymphoma. According to Rgenix’ website, RGX-202 has demonstrated anti-tumor activity in several tumor models in pre-clinical studies, both as a single agent as well as in combination with standard-of-care therapies. RGX-202 will enter clinical trials in 2017.
Rgenix’s miRNA platform is based on science developed in the Rockefeller University laboratory of Sohail Tavazoie, one of the company’s co-founders. Rgenix was founded in 2010 by three brothers who were looking for solutions for cancer patients who did not respond to treatments due to drug resistance and immune evasion.
The $33 million in Series B financing was led by Novo A/S and Sofinnova Partners, a French venture capital company. Additional backers include Partnership Fund for New York City, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Conegliano Ventures LP. Rgenix previously raised $10.5 million in a Series A funding round.
In connection with the financing, Nilesh Kumar of Novo Ventures and Antoine Papiernik of Sofinnova Partners will join the Rgenix board of directors.
