Azeria Therapeutics has wound down voluntarily four years after being set up to advance University of Cambridge and Cancer Research UK work.
Azeria Therapeutics, a UK-based oncology spinout of University of Cambridge and research charity Cancer Research UK (CRUK), has wound down voluntarily and returned “a substantial amount of funds” to investors, according to BusinessWeekly.
The spinout formally made the decision to halt operations in December 2020, according to a regulatory filing, and had appointed Stephen Adshead of Smith & Williamson as the liquidator.
Shareholder Syncona had already revealed its decision to write off its investment the previous month after disappointing pre-clinical data generated by Azeria.
Founded in 2017, Azeria was looking to advance a treatment for breast cancer. Its approach was based on work by Prof Jason Carroll at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Insitute, located at University of Cambridge.
Azeria raised $41.2m in a series B round led by Syncona in 2019. The round also included CRT Pioneer Fund, the investment vehicle formed by CRUK’s tech transfer arm – Cancer Research Technology – that counts Syncona as its largest investor.
Azeria Therapeutics obtained $5.2m of series A funding from CRT Pioneer Fund in 2018. The fund is managed by Sixth Element Capital, which set up Azeria with CRUK’s Commercial Partnerships team.
