MimiVax principals have been moving for years toward this moment – a large clinical trial that compares its glioblastoma therapy against the current standard of care.
The Buffalo-based biotech is getting a boost from its longtime financial backers along the way.
MimiVax closed recently on a $5 million round of funding that will support its Phase 2b trials, which opened at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center earlier this month and will eventually span about 15 cancer centers in the U.S. and China.
Funding came from existing investors Jerry Jacobs Jr. and Roswell. Varia Ventures, led by Scott Friedman and Andrea Vossler, contributed $1.5 million to the round. The Lippes Mathias law firm – where Friedman and Vossler are partners – handled the legal work.
The funding will support MimiVax as it begins the trials, which could take three to four years.
“You need to see the therapy compared head-to-head with traditional drugs,” said Mike Ciesielski, a Roswell Ph.D. researcher who co-founded the company with Dr. Robert Fenstermaker. “That’s the point where you know you’ve really got something, and that’s what we’re anxious to see.”
Hopes are high in Buffalo that MimiVax’s SurVaxM immunotherapy treatment will lead to better outcomes for patients suffering from glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer. Based on decades of research at Roswell, Ciesielski and Fenstermaker officially spun out the company in 2012.
MimiVax completed a five-year phase 2 clinical trial in 2020, which showed that survival rates on SurVaxM exceeded those of traditional treatments. The company inked a $148 million licensing deal in 2019 with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Industrial Development Co., which included a $10 million upfront payout.
Because SurVaxM has been designated an orphan drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it’s possible the current trial leads MimiVax all the way to full commercialization. First the company needs to prove to regulators that manufacturing is up to “commercial production standards,” which will make it a pivotal trial in the eyes of the FDA. Orphan drugs are intended for the treatment, prevention or diagnosis of a rare disease.
Ciesielski said the fundraising effort is far from over. The company plans to seek out institutional investors into 2022 to support the lengthy, largescale trial.
MimiVax is among 32 local startups that have raised private, growth-oriented capital this year. Others include Jerry ($103 million), Squire ($60 million), Centivo ($51 million), Tackle.io ($35 million), Torch Labs ($25 million), CleanFiber ($11.9 million), Circuit Clinical ($7.5 million), Kangarootime ($6 million), SomaDetect ($6 million), Kickfurther ($5.9 million), Garwood Medical Devices ($4 million), Joblio ($4 million), Verivend ($2.5 million), HELIXintel ($1.6 million), Ognomy ($1.37 million), OxiWear ($1.25 million), Patient Pattern ($1.2 million), Ellicottville Greens ($1 million), Immersed Games ($540,000), braidbabes ($415,000), MemoryFox ($380,000), Zizo Technologies ($200,000), AirExpert ($200,000), Thimble ($165,000), Immunaeon ($100,000), Oro Sports ($100,000), Real Talk ($100,000), Alo ($100,000), Rally (undisclosed), HiOperator (undisclosed) and Classavo (undisclosed).
