Imperial Innovations is investing in the oncology spin-out.
Kesios Therapeutics, an oncology drug discovery spin-out of Imperial College London, has secured £1.85m ($3m) in a seed round led by Imperial Innovations. Imperial Innovations now holds a 48.4% stake in the company.
Kesios was spun out to commercialise research by Guido Franzoso at the university’s Department of Medicine, and is working towards a cure for multiple myeloma. The research discovered a new target for potential drugs which promotes cancer cell survival in white blood cells.
Multiple myeloma is a disease of the bone marrow which is responsible for 2% of cancer deaths and currently incurable. More than 100,000 patients are diagnosed each year in Europe, the US and Japan, with the market for therapies expected to rise to $5.3bn by 2018.
The company has also secured a £3.9m ($6.31m) grant from the Medical Research Council to validate their research and develop a drug candidate. Meanwhile Kesio will use the seed funding to expand its pipeline and research and development, and to grow its operational team.
Dayle Hogg, manager of healthcare ventures at Imperial Innovations, said: “We are delighted to be supporting Kesios with this seed funding round. The ground-breaking research of professor Franzoso and his colleagues at Imperial College could have significant therapeutic benefits for patients with multiple myeloma and potentially for other cancers as well. Our investment in Kesios demonstrates Innovations’ model of commercialising technology by bringing in high-calibre management teams to work alongside outstanding academic research.”