Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

March 10, 2021

New Haven’s Cybrexa raises $25M for tumor-targeting drug trial

PHOTO | File image Cybrexa President and CEO Per Hellsund
By Natalie Missakian

New Haven oncology biotech Cybrexa Therapeutics said Wednesday it has raised another $25 million to advance its tumor-targeting drug into its first human trial.

Participating in the Series B2 funding round were existing investor HighCape Capital and New Haven-based Elm Street Ventures, a new investor in the company, along with other unnamed investors including family offices, Cybrexa said. 

They join previous investors Cycle Venture Partners and Connecticut Innovations, the state’s venture capital arm.

The latest round comes on the heels of a $13.4 million Series B1 round in June 2019, and brings Cybrexa’s lifetime venture capital fundraising to $44.73 million. 

Cybrexa said proceeds will be used to advance its lead drug candidate, CBX-12 (alphalex-exatecan), into a Phase 1 clinical trial, which it expects to begin before the end of June. Phase 1 is the first phase of human testing for experimental drugs on the path toward regulatory approval. 

“We are pleased that our efforts continue to be recognized and supported by our investors,” CEO Per Hellsund said in a statement. “This funding is a testament to our company’s progress, execution and the strength of our alphalex platform technology.”

The four-year-old company is based at 5 Science Park and was founded by Yale physician-scientists Dr. Ranjit Bindra and Dr. Peter Glazer, along with Connecticut serial entrepreneurs Hellsund, Kevin Rakin and Kevin Didden. It has 22 employees and roughly a dozen consultants. 

Its first drug, CBX-12, aims to fight solid tumors with fewer troublesome side effects by depositing powerful cancer-fighting agents directly into tumor cells. 

The drug, based on technology developed at Yale and the University of Rhode Island, features a molecule that forms a corkscrew-like structure in the presence of the acidic environment of a cancer cell. The structure can then drill into a tumor cell to deliver the cancer-fighting agent while sparing healthy tissue.

According to Cybrexa, the drug includes a topoisomerase 1 inhibitor, the same class of compound used in the advanced breast cancer drugs Enhertu and Trodelvy, but it would be able to target a wider patient population.

The biotech recently signed an agreement with the National Cancer Institute to collaborate on preclinical and potential clinical development of the drug.

Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF