--Financing round led by GordonMD®
Global Investments LP and Pfizer Ventures, with participation from
a world-class group of investors--
--Proceeds to support advancement of FX-909, a
first-in-class PPARG inhibitor, into the clinic in 2023, along
with continued development of Flare's platform and pipeline of
novel transcription factor targets in oncology--
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 22,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Flare Therapeutics Inc., a
biotechnology company targeting transcription factors to discover
precision medicines for cancer and other diseases, today announced
a $123 million Series B financing
co-led by GordonMD® Global Investments LP
and Pfizer Ventures, with participation from existing investors
Boxer Capital, Casdin Capital, Eventide Asset Management, Invus
Financial Advisors, Nextech Invest and Third Rock Ventures and new
investors Agent Capital, Eli Lilly and Company, Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), Novartis, Pavilion Capital and
ShangBay Capital. In conjunction with the financing, Craig D. Gordon, M.D., Founder, Chief Executive
Officer and Chief Investment Officer of
GordonMD® Global Investments LP, and
Irena Melnikova, Ph.D., Partner at
Pfizer Ventures, have joined the Flare Therapeutics Board of
Directors.
"Our investor support is testament to the rapid progress our
team has made since launch in advancing the only company focused on
rationally designing transcription factor targeting therapies,"
said Amit Rakhit, M.D., MBA,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Flare Therapeutics. "This
will be a pivotal year for Flare as we progress our first precision
oncology program, FX-909, into the clinic, continue to expand our
collection of druggable transcription factor targets, and build a
pipeline of potentially first-in-class therapies against
genetically validated transcription factor targets for
cancer."
Proceeds from the financing will support a planned clinical
trial in 2023 for FX-909, a small molecule inhibitor targeting the
PPARG transcription factor, in patients with advanced urothelial
cancer, as well as the advancement of a pipeline of novel
transcription factor targets in oncology, including nomination of
at least one additional development candidate from the company's
research pipeline in 2024.
"Transcription factors have long been viewed as prime
therapeutic targets playing a key role in a broad range of
diseases, particularly cancers, where they represent one-third of
all oncogenes. While targeting transcription factors has the
potential for incredible impact, their complex structure makes them
notoriously difficult to drug, requiring a new approach and new
thinking," said Rob Sims, Ph.D.,
Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Flare Therapeutics.
"From the very beginning, we knew this would require a world-class,
cross-disciplinary team to not only think creatively about how to
design the platform, but also how to apply translational insights
to ensure efficient drug development at scale."
The Flare drug discovery platform is a powerful engine driving
the systematic identification of switch sites, or druggable pockets
within transcription factor complexes that dictate conformation and
function. This is achieved through a broad and comprehensive
approach that layers chemoproteomics, functional biochemistry,
covalent chemistry and genetic insights to gain a deeper
understanding of the structural underpinnings driving transcription
factor function, and a proprietary library of compounds designed to
modulate transcription factor behavior.
"Flare has taken on one of the most formidable challenges in
drug discovery – drugging transcription factors," said Craig D. Gordon, M.D., Founder, Chief Executive
Officer and Chief Investment Officer of
GordonMD® Global Investments LP. "The
company is making impressive strides enabled by its platform, which
to date has successfully identified more than 150 switch sites
across the majority of transcription factor families, providing
opportunities to treat a broad range of diseases."
"We believe Flare's differentiated and comprehensive approach to
uncovering, targeting and systematically drugging switch sites on
transcription factors may unlock the therapeutic potential of this
class of targets, not only in oncology but in other indications as
well," said Irena Melnikova, Ph.D.,
Partner at Pfizer Ventures. "As a member of the board, I look
forward to supporting the company in their mission to bring new
medicines to patients in need."
About Flare Therapeutics Inc.
Flare Therapeutics
is a biotechnology company changing the paradigm in drugging
transcription factors with an initial focus in precision oncology.
Flare's proprietary engine is founded on the identification of
novel druggable pockets, or 'switch sites', within
transcription factor complexes that solve for where to drug and how
to tune gene expression to discover small molecule precision
medicines for cancer and other diseases. The team has rapidly
advanced an emerging pipeline of assets and plans to advance its
lead precision oncology program, FX-909, a small molecule inhibitor
targeting PPARG into the clinic in 2023 in individuals
with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer.
For more information, please visit
www.flaretx.com.
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SOURCE Flare Therapeutics