Houston-based oncology firm Iterion Therapeutics Inc. raised a $17 million funding round to push through clinical trials.
The round, an extension of the $6 million Series B raise Iterion closed in late 2018, was led by Toronto, Canada-based Lumira Ventures. The funding round saw participation from returning investor Austin-based Santé Ventures as well as new investors Viva BioInnovator, GPG Ventures and Venture Investors, the company said.
Rahul Aras, CEO of Iterion, said the company plans to use proceeds from the capital raise to advance its lead clinical candidate, Tegavivint, through regulatory clinical trials. The drug candidate is currently undergoing a Phase 1/2a clinical trial to treat patients with desmoid tumors, which are rare, non-metastasizing sarcomas. Iterion has completed enrollment for its Phase 2a dose expansion clinical study of Tegavivint, Aras said.
"This allows us to continue to follow the patients in that study and advance the desmoid program," Aras said. "Importantly, that now allows us to introduce Tegavivint in a number of new indications for which we have strong preclinical data."
Iterion currently employs 10 people and does not plan to significantly expand its team in connection with the capital raise. As the company continues to focus on clinical development, Iterion will look to add a couple of new employees to its headcount, mainly in clinical and product development, Aras said. Iterion will consider building out teams focused on commercialization further into the regulatory process, he said.
In addition to targeting desmoid tumors, Iterion aims to test Tegavivint's efficacy in treating patients with acute myeloid leukemia, non-small-cell lung cancer and pediatric cancer, Aras said. Each of these cancers are characterized by nuclear beta-catenin over-expression, according to the company. Tegavivint acts as a nuclear beta-catenin inhibitor, preventing the activation of the cancer genes while allowing the beta-catenin to resume its normal role in tissue function.
"We envision incredible potential therapeutic benefits associated with Tegavivint and are excited to support the Iterion team in its exploration of multiple clinical development opportunities for this potentially groundbreaking therapeutic," said Benjamin Rovinsky, managing director at Lumira Ventures.
Iterion is headquartered in TMCxi, a workspace to support and accelerate innovation in life sciences. TMCxi is located within the TMC Innovation Institute at 2450 Holcombe Blvd.
