Senhwa raises $17m to progress ex-Cylene assets
This article was originally published in Scrip
The Taiwanese oncology venture Senhwa Biosciences has raised $17m in a Series B financing that will be used to support further clinical trials for its oncology pipeline, comprising two small molecules acquired from the private US firm Cylene Pharmaceuticals.
Taipei-based Senhwa said it plans to begin new US trials next year with the Polymerase I inhibitor CX-5461 and CX-4945, a CK2 protein kinase inhibitor, both with the goal of demonstrating clinical proof of concept for the first-in-class drugs.
CX-5461 selectively activates p53 in tumor cells by inhibiting rDNA synthesis by Pol I and triggering nucleolar stress, and is currently in a Phase I Australian trial for hematological malignancies such as leukemias, lymphomas and multiple myeloma.
CX-4945, which inhibits DNA repair in cancer cells, is being investigated as a combination therapy to enhance the action of standard drugs such as cisplatin and gemcitabine in solid tumors. The initial focus is on advanced cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer).
The new funding round involved a range of new and existing investors including Morningside and H&Q Asia Pacific, and "accelerates the development of Senhwa into a fully-fledged development company," president Dr Tai-Sen Soong said.
Both the pipeline assets of the Taiwanese venture, established around a year ago, were formerly being developed by San Diego-based Cylene, which ceased operations this year, although Senwha maintains an office in the Californian city.
Cylene also entered into an agreement to license its Phase II compound quarfloxin and associated quadruplex-targeting technologies to TetraGene in March this year.