Imperial Innovations has contributed to a series A round for small-molecule oncology treatment developer Storm Therapeutics, a Cambridge spinout.
UK-based small-molecule drug developer Storm Therapeutics raised £12m ($16m) yesterday in a series A round that included pharmaceutical companies Merck KGaA and Pfizer.
The corporates, which took part in the round through corporate venturing subsidiaries Merck Ventures and Pfizer Venture Investments, invested alongside Imperial Innovations and Cambridge Innovation Capital.
Spun out of Cambridge University’s Gurdon Institute as Iceni Therapeutics, Storm is working on cancer treatments that target RNA-modifying enzymes. RNA is the template for the synthesis of proteins and an important part of cellular decision making.
Storm will use the funding to identify the small-molecule modulators of targets in RNA modification pathways that it will then develop into cancer drug candidates.
Storm Therapeutics co-founders Tony Kouzarides and Eric Miska said: “The work that our research groups are undertaking on non-coding RNA and the enzymes that modify this RNA is giving us incredibly interesting insights into how gene expression can be modified at a cellular level.
“The funding and support that Storm Therapeutics has received from its investors will allow the development of these insights into a new class of therapeutics ready to be taken into clinical trials.”
– This article first appeared on our sister site Global Corporate Venturing.
