Houston-based biotechnology firm Asylia Therapeutics Inc. raised $14.5 million to advance its clinical trials for cancer drugs.
The Series A round was led by Houston-based Sporos Bioventures, Asylia announced May 25. The company will use proceeds to bring Asylia's assets to first-in-human clinical trials for oncology. Asylia could potentially generate proof-of-concept signals for its clinical assets in treating autoimmune diseases like lupus, the firm said.
"While cancer research has come a significant way with the approval of the first wave of immunotherapies, many patients do not respond to checkpoint inhibitors and are in need of different options," said Dr. Robert Orlowski, co-founder of Asylia Therapeutics. "Our platform is now being converted into an antibody therapeutic with remarkable anti-tumor activity across a wide spectrum of established cancer models. We look forward to working to advance this discovery into a new hope for patients and families affected by certain cancers."
Asylia also announced the appointment of Karthik Radhakrishnan as the company's founding CEO in connection with the Series A financing. Radhakrishnan is a Houston-based biotech executive who previously served as CFO of The Woodlands-based Opexa Therapeutics Inc., which merged with Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Acer in 2017. Asylia was founded in 2019 but did not have a CEO until now.
Asylia investor Sporos Bioventures emerged from stealth mode earlier in May with $38.1 million in funding. The company was founded by a group of biotech executives, entrepreneurs, academic scholars and investors aiming to develop breakthrough therapies targeting cancer and immune diseases.
Sporos Bioventures launched with four entities in its pipeline, including Asylia. The three other entities in the pipeline are Nirogy Therapeutics, Stellanova Therapeutics and Tvardi Therapeutics, a Houston-based biopharmaceutical firm.
The Sporos Bioventures founding team includes Dr. Ronald DePinho, professor of cancer biology and past president of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, who chairs Sporos' Strategic Advisory Council. Sporos hired Michael Wyzga as its founding CFO. He was previously CFO of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Genzyme, which was acquired by French pharmaceutical company Sanofi for $20 billion in 2011.
