Artios Pharma has raised more than 65 million pounds to develop DDR therapy

Cambridge-based Artios Pharma Biotech has raised more than 65 million pounds in round B financing from investors including Pfizer and Novaral to further develop DNA Damage Response (DDR) cancer treatments.
said the financing was significantly oversubscribed, led by Andera Partners ,formerly known as EdRIP and LSP Life Partners, with the participation of other new investors Pfizer Ventures and Novart Ventures (NVF). Artios' existing shareholders Arix Biosciences, SV Health Investors, M Ventures, IP Group plc and AbbVie Ventures are also involved in the fund-raising.
Artios is developing a range of state-of-the-art DDR therapies from a global network of leading researchers in the field of DDRs, including through Cancer Research UK. Inhibiting new DNA repair targets, such as Pol, in tumors where DNA damage reaction factors are lost or reduced will cause cancer cells to be selectively killed without harming normal cells. This provides these products with the opportunity to be used in monotherapy and in combination with existing and future cancer therapies.
We believe Artios' DDR program has the potential to have a real impact on cancer patients," said Raphael Wisniewski, partner at Andera Partners. The new fund will allow Artios to advance its state-of-the-art portfolio, the small molecule DDR program, including its leading procedure for targeting DNA polymerase theta (Pol) through clinical proof-of-concept trials. The Artios team was involved in the development of olaparib during the study of KuDOS, the first approved PARP inhibitor for the treatment of ovarian and breast cancer.
"We believe in the story and science behind Artios, and the investment in Series B is a strong support for the company and the team," said Jonathan Tobin, investment director at Artios Bioscience and a board member of Artios Pharma. This led to a perfect storm - an underrated opportunity, combined with innovative science and an experienced team, to break the clinical and commercial success record and validate the premise of synthetic fatality for PARP's emerging clinical and commercial success. "
in conjunction with Series B financing, Raphael Wisniewski, a partner from Andera, Rene Kuijten of LSP and Barbara Dalton of Pfizer Ventures, will join Artios as a director and Florian Muellershausen of NVF will join as an observer. The financing followed a $36 million round A financing completed in September 2016. (China Pharmaceutical 123 Network)