Phoenix-based OncoMyx Therapeutics has received $50 million in funding to be used to develop cancer killing agents using a virus found in rabbits.
This series B funding round follows $25 million in series A financing the company received in 2019 after spinning out from Arizona State University in 2018.
While that first round of funding was used to advance the company's oncolytic virus therapy program to treat various cancers, the latest round of funding will help the company manufacture the drug and support clinical trials, said Steve Potts, co-founder and CEO of OncoMyx.
Oncolytic viruses — which can either be found in nature or modified in the lab — are viruses that can infect and kill tumor cells without harming healthy cells, according to the National Cancer Institute.
In this case, the company is using a rabbit virus, Potts said.
"The rabbit virus has been widespread for millions of years but it can't infect anything outside of rabbits," he said. "It has a good ability to infect human cancer cells. We can use it as a way to deliver cancer payloads in clinical trials with the virus."
Potts expects to begin clinical trials in humans in early 2023.
While immunotherapy cancer treatments have made encouraging progress over the years, only one out of seven patients respond positively to immunotherapy across all tumor types, Potts said.
To change that, he plans to hit the cancer at one time with multiple armed paylodes encoded in the virus to trigger a human immune response to fight the cancer, coupled with the natural ability of the virus itself to be what Potts calls "strongly immunostimulatory" in generating a sustained immune response against cancer.
The treatment is promising for solid tumors as well as blood cancers, he said.
"I'm excited about additional investors coming in," Potts said.
This series B financing is being led by Lumira Ventures and B Capital Group, with participation from LYZZ Capital. It also will include everyone from the series A round, which was led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Delos Capital and Xeraya Capital, with participation from Korea Investment Partners, City Hill Ventures and Madison Partners.
Toronto, Canada-based Lumira Ventures is the oldest Canadian life sciences venture capital firm, Potts said.
In conjunction with the financing, Benjamin Rovinski, managing director of Lumira Ventures, and Widya Mulyasasmita, senior principal of health care at B Capital Group, will join OncyMyx's board of directors.
Rovinski used to run the vaccine division for one of the largest vaccine manufacturers in the world, Potts said.
"He understands vaccine drug development," he said, adding that Mulyasasmita also has a solid track record in life sciences.
"It's great to have them," Potts said.
This is an exciting stage for OncoMyx as this funding will support its programs into the clinic, said Joan Koerber-Walker, president and CEO of the Arizona Bioindustry Association.
"Arizona is known for its collaborative ecosystem and OncoMyx is a remarkable testimony to the multiple biosciences organizations here that have been instrumental in its success, including the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, Skysong Innovations, Mayo Clinic and TD2."
