Pittsburgh-based biotech Novasenta Inc. completed a $40 million Series A financing round that was led by UPMC Enterprises.
Novasenta's focus is on mapping cells and structures around cancer solid tumors in an effort to develop immunotherapies for cancer. The founders of the company say that its vision is in understanding interactions between the immune system and tumor types, and then creating treatments for them. It's billed as the next-generation of immunotherapies following CAR-T cell and checkpoint inhibitors, which only work for a smaller number of patients.
The company was started in 2018 by UPMC Hillman Cancer Center/University of Pittsburgh's Dr. Robert Ferris, Dario Vignali and Greg Delgoffe, and employs UPMC's tumor samples in the initiative. It has three immunotherapy targets and drug candidates in its pipeline and said in a statement Friday that it plans to bring at least one of them to the clinic by 2024.
"Our unique target discovery and validation platform, access to patient tumor samples and the expertise of our founders are critical advantages as we strive to bring life-saving therapies to market," said CEO Mani Mohindru.
