US-based small molecule drug discovery and development company Vivace Therapeutics has secured $35m in a Series D financing round, led by RA Capital Management.
Other participants include existing investors Canaan Partners and Cenova Capital.
Vivace intends to use the funds to advance the clinical development of its transcriptional enhanced associate domain (TEAD) auto palmitoylation inhibitor, VT3989.
The company’s efforts to develop VT3989 focus on providing new treatment options for mesothelioma, a cancer with limited approved therapies.
As part of the transaction, RA Capital Management partner Jake Simson has been appointed as a member of Vivace’s board of directors.
Simson said: “Since participating in Vivace’s Series C round, we have had a front row seat for the tremendous progress the company has made in its efforts to address the significant unmet treatment need of patients with mesothelioma.
“The team’s impressive drive and continued execution made our decision to lead this Series D round an easy one.
“Based on the clinical progress to date, we believe that VT3989 is well positioned to serve as a dramatic leap forward in the mesothelioma standard of care, offering hope to patients battling a terrible disease with limited treatment options.”
VT3989 is a novel small molecule cancer therapy targeting the Hippo pathway by inhibiting palmitoylation of TEAD proteins.
The drug showed promising clinical efficacy and superior safety in the ongoing open-label Phase 1 clinical study in over 150 patients with refractory metastatic solid tumours.
It is the only TEAD autopalmitoylation inhibitor with publicly reported efficacy data.
VT3989 showed promising results for mesothelioma patients who have not responded to chemotherapy and immuno-oncology combinations.
Vivace intends to advance VT3989 into a Phase 3 clinical trial, with plans to discuss this with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later this year.
Vivace Therapeutics president and chief executive officer Sofie Qiao said: “The results of our clinical evaluation of VT3989 to date give us confidence that the appropriate next step for the program is advancement into a registrational Phase 3 trial in patients with mesothelioma.
“We are now laser focused on executing against this strategy, including completing our ongoing clinical study and meeting with FDA to align on next steps.
“We are grateful to RA Capital for leading this round, as well as the continued support from Canaan Partners and Cenova Capital. This new funding will prove critical to enabling our successful development of VT3989.”
