US-based cancer therapy developer Day One Biopharmaceuticals has launched with $60m in series A funding from investors including Access Biotechnology, a subsidiary of diversified holding company Access Industries.
Venture capital firms Canaan and Atlas Venture also participated in the series A round, Canaan having already incubated the startup.
Day One is developing paediatric cancer therapeutics that are intended to address a disparity in treatment it claims means children on average receive access to innovative cancer treatments more than six years after adults.
The company’s lead asset is DAY101, the development rights of which it has acquired from pharmaceutical firm Takeda, where it had been licensed from pharmaceutical company Sunesis.
DAY101 is a small-molecule inhibitor of RAF, a gene that drives forms of cancer that include a bran tumour known as paediatric glioma as well as adult solid tumours. It is currently in phase 1 clinical trials and has been administered to more than 250 patients.
Access Biotechnology principal Daniel Becker has joined the company’s board of directors along with Michael Gladstone, a principal at Atlas Venture, and Julie Grant, a general partner at Canaan who is also Day One’s co-founder and acting chief executive.
Grant said: “At Day One we ask – what is the fastest path to [US Food and Drug Administration] approval and insurance coverage for this product?
“Treating patients whose tumours are most likely to respond to treatment, irrespective of age, as quickly as possible is a simple and often underutilised strategy. Our team is focused on development innovation and rapid execution, in addition to being at the forefront of cancer biology.”
