OUP and Sofinnova Partners invested in 28-7 Therapeutics to take its series A round to $82.8m, enabling the Harvard spinout to pursue accelerated development of its cancer drug pipeline.
Twentyeight-Seven (28-7) Therapeutics, a US-based cancer drug development spinout of Harvard University, has extended its series A round to $82.8m with a $15m second tranche backed by spinout-focused investment firm Osage University Partners.
The extension was led by venture capital firm Sofinnova Partners and followed an initial $65m series A close in September 2018 co-led by investment firm MPM Capital and Novartis Venture Fund, the investment arm of pharmaceutical firm Novartis.
The original tranche also featured Johnson & Johnson Innovation–JJDC and Astellas Venture Management, respective corporate venturing units of healthcare group Johnson & Johnson and pharmaceutical firm Astellas Pharma, as well as Singaporean state-owned VC firm Vertex Ventures and Longwood Fund.
Founded in 2016, 28-7 is developing a therapeutic platform targeting RNA-modulating proteins with a focus on non-coding RNAs linked to the generation, progression and metastasis of cancer.
The critical biological function of non-coding RNAs is a relatively recent discovery, potentially opening up new targets for oncological drugs. 28-7 will initially target a microRNA called let7, which is responsible for suppressing certain oncogenes but can be disrupted by the Lin28 protein in some forms of cancer.
28-7’s technology extends work pioneered by four researchers at Harvard Medical School – George Daley, Richard Gregory, Frank Slack and Piotr Sliz.
The additional series A cash will help accelerate existing drug development programs while also driving work on the spinout’s underlying technology and efforts to seize new therapeutic opportunities.
Henrijette Richter, managing partner at Sofinnova Partners, will join the board of directors.
Richter said: “We were captivated by the company with its strong team of serial entrepreneurs possessing an incredible track record of successes, an exceptional group of academic founders, and the impressive scientific data and drug discovery progress around their lead RNA-focused program.”