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news.Peloton Therapeutics, a drug discovery and development firm focused on advancing small molecule cancer therapies, has completed a $52.4m Series D financing round.
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The financing round included new investor Foresite Capital Management and participation from all existing investors, including Remeditex LLC, The Column Group, Tichenor Ventures LLC, Topspin Fund LP, and Nextech Invest Ltd.
As part of the Series D financing, Foresite Capital Management will add an observer to Peloton’s Board of Directors.
Jim Tananbaum, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Foresite Capital, said: “We are pleased to support Peloton’s efforts to develop first-in-class, small molecule drugs against challenging and important molecular targets in oncology.
“The company’s lead program targeting hypoxia-inducible factor-2α (HIF-2α) has generated exciting responses in patients with renal cell carcinoma, with potential applications in von Hippel-Lindau disease, glioblastoma multiforme and other diseases with high unmet medical need.”
John A. Josey, Ph.D., Peloton’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Foresite Capital is well respected for their contributions to the success of their portfolio companies. We are very pleased to benefit from the enthusiastic support of our entire investor base.
“With this financing in place, we are well positioned to realize the full potential of our HIF-2a antagonists and advance our other research programs.”
About PT2385
PT2385 is a first-in-class small molecule antagonist of hypoxia-inducible factor-2α (HIF-2α), a transcription factor implicated in the development and progression of kidney cancer.
It is currently being investigated in a Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of advanced or metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) as monotherapy and in combination with the immuno-oncology agent nivolumab. Loss of the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor (VHL) is the key oncogenic event in up to 95 percent of patients with ccRCC.
With the loss of the VHL protein (pVHL), the transcription factor HIF-2α accumulates and drives the unbalanced expression of numerous gene products. Preclinical data indicate that orally bioavailable PT2385 disrupts HIF-2α activity in ccRCC and thereby blocks the expression of multiple tumorigenic factors.
Clinical data in patients with advanced ccRCC has shown PT2385 to have encouraging efficacy, including a number of responses and a favorable tolerability profile, with no dose-limiting toxicities nor evidence of cardiovascular adverse events.
About Kidney Cancer
The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 62,000 new cases of kidney cancer will be diagnosed and more than 14,000 people will die from this disease this year.
The National Cancer Institute reports that the prognosis for any treated renal cell cancer patient with progressing, recurring, or relapsing disease is poor, regardless of cell type or stage.