US-based oncology treatment developer Effector Therapeutics raised $38.6m yesterday in a series C round led by Pfizer Venture Investments, the strategic investment arm of pharmaceutical firm Pfizer.
Novartis Venture Fund, SR One, AbbVie Biotech Ventures and Astellas Ventures, subsidiaries of pharmaceutical companies Novartis, GlaxoSmithkline, AbbVie and Astellas respectively, also took part.
The round was filled out by Alexandria Venture Investments, the venture capital vehicle for property developer Alexandria Real Estate Equities, as well as US Venture Partners (USVP), Abingworth, Column Group, Altitude Life Science Ventures, Sectoral Asset Management and BioMed Ventures.
Effector is working on small-molecule drugs that will treat cancer by working as selective translation regulators, harnessing the body’s immune system to fight the disease.
The company will use the funding to advance phase 2 development of its lead product candidate, EFT508. The drug is an oral inhibitor of MNK1 and MNK2, which are protein kinases that reduce anti-tumour activity by upregulating certain immune checkpoint receptors.
Elaine V. Jones, vice-president at PVI, has joined Effector’s board of directors in connection with the series C round, which increased the company’s overall funding to approximately $140m.
Novartis Venture Funds, SR One and Astellas Venture Management invested in Effector’s $45m series A round in 2013 alongside USVP, Abingworth, Osage University Partners and Mission Bay Capital.
The company closed a $56m series B round in February 2016 featuring SR One, AbbVie Biotech Ventures, Astellas Ventures, Novartis Ventures, Abingworth, BioMed, Column Group, USVP, Osage University Partners, Sectoral, Altitude Life Science and Mission Bay Capital.
Steve Worland, president and CEO of Effector, said: “The addition of Pfizer to our already strong roster of corporate investors, as well as Dr Jones to our board, with her track record of providing guidance to emerging biotechnology companies, provides us with invaluable financial and strategic support as we advance our clinical pipeline.
“Our successful fundraising validates the potential we see for selective translation regulators as a new class of cancer treatment and Effector is well-positioned to capitalise on the opportunity created by this exciting technology.”