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news.Private cancer therapies developer Celator has closed a round of financing, representing one of the largest venture capital investments in biotechnology in both Canada and the US during the past 12 months.
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The company has closed a $40 million round of private equity financing, with participation from several leading venture capital firms, to support its expanding research and product development efforts targeting new combination chemotherapies for cancer.
Celator is developing new combination chemotherapies based on its proprietary CombiPlex technology platform. This technology makes it possible to identify and ‘lock in’ the precise ratio of chemotherapy agents that will produce combination therapies with significantly enhanced efficacy.
“Most cancers are treated with combinations of drugs,” said Dr Andrew Janoff, chairman and CEO of Celator. “Celator’s CombiPlex technology platform positions us to develop an entirely new generation of cancer therapies that will incorporate the ideal ratios of chemotherapy agents and make it possible to maintain those ratios in the body to treat cancer more effectively.”
Celator is currently conducting phase I trials for CPX-1, the company’s lead product in development as a treatment for colorectal cancer, at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver and at McGill University in Montreal. Another product candidate, CPX-351, is in development as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia.