On January 6, 2016 January 6, 2016 Accelerator Corporation, a leading life science investment and management firm, reported the Series A financing of Petra Pharma Corporation to develop small molecule inhibitors for the treatment of cancer and metabolic diseases in alliance with Weill Cornell Medicine (Press release, Petra Pharma, JAN 6, 2016, View Source [SID:1234508672]). The investors participating in the $48 million Series A investment in Petra Pharma include Accelerator New York’s investment syndicate partners: AbbVie, Alexandria Venture Investments, ARCH Venture Partners, Eli Lilly and Company, Harris & Harris Group, Inc., Innovate NY Fund, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., The Partnership Fund for New York City, Pfizer Venture Investments, Watson Fund and WuXi PharmaTech.

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"Following the launch of Accelerator in New York in 2014, we are delighted to now be financing our first startup life science company here in New York City," said Thong Q. Le, chief executive officer of Accelerator. "We believe that the scientific advancements pioneered by co-founders Drs. Lewis Cantley and Nathanael Gray, combined with an alliance with Weill Cornell Medicine in New York and our management team’s operational capabilities, provide a tremendous platform for a biotech company with significant growth potential in the City. This first launch is illustrative of the kind of support we expect to continue to bring to the local life sciences community in the months ahead."

Founders and Research Alliance

Petra Pharma’s co-founders include two world-leading researchers who have contributed to numerous breakthrough advances in cancer:

• Lewis Cantley, Ph.D., a foremost expert in understanding the biochemical pathways linking cancer and energy metabolism, discovered the signaling pathway phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) in 1984. Dr. Cantley is the Director of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

• Nathanael Gray, Ph.D., responsible for the discovery of numerous first-in-class kinase inhibitors, also pioneered the use of synthetic chemistry and functional small molecule discovery to modulate biological pathways important in cancer. Dr. Gray is a professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Center.

"Petra Pharma’s approach interrogates the novel enzyme targets responsible for a variety of important cellular processes, including cell division, growth, trafficking and signaling to develop therapies to improve patient health," stated Dr. Cantley, co-founder of Petra Pharma, who owns equity in Petra Pharma. "The support of Accelerator at the seed stage, coupled with an expanded syndicate financing offered by Accelerator New York’s investors, puts Petra Pharma in a strong position to advance this promising research avenue, translate critical discoveries into next-generation treatments and ultimately make a difference in the clinic."

Petra Pharma has entered into a multiyear research alliance with Weill Cornell Medicine, a stakeholder in the company, to further examine and elucidate certain biological pathways related to the targets being researched in Dr. Cantley’s lab. Weill Cornell Medicine’s Office of BioPharma Alliances and Research Collaborations is dedicated to proactively generate, structure and market translational research alliances with industry in order to advance promising research projects that have commercial potential.

"Accelerator’s collaborative investing model brings to New York City an attractive opportunity to translate the early-stage, innovative science coming out of our medical college into new therapies for patients," said Larry Schlossman, managing director of BioPharma Alliances and Research Collaborations at Weill Cornell. "We are delighted to be the first institution to partner with Accelerator New York and launch Petra Pharma under Weill Cornell’s unique biopharma alliance program."

Unique Model of Business Operations

Under Accelerator’s unique and proven investment and operations management model, the early operations of Petra Pharma will be overseen by Accelerator’s core management team. Accelerator has assembled a team of talented professionals with deep investment, operational and scientific expertise to build high-quality life science startup companies. By leveraging Accelerator’s capabilities, Petra Pharma will be highly focused on achieving key value-building scientific milestones, while the Accelerator management team will handle all aspects of business management and scientific oversight.

"Accelerator has a unique incubation strategy that helps mitigate the challenges associated with early-stage discovery efforts, leading to the creation of innovative new companies," said Greg Plowman, M.D., Ph.D., vice president of oncology research at Eli Lilly and Company. "As an investor in Accelerator and Petra Pharma, we are excited about Accelerator’s first New York City-based startup and the opportunities that Petra Pharma will bring to the City’s life science ecosystem."

Petra Pharma’s office and lab headquarters will be located within Accelerator’s facilities at the Alexandria Center for Life Science, New York City’s first and only premier life science park. Since its establishment, The Alexandria Center for Life Science has become the leading commercial destination in New York City for world-class life science entities to translate innovative discoveries into breakthrough products for patients with significant unmet medical needs.

About Accelerator Corporation

Accelerator Corporation, established in 2003 with operations in Seattle and New York City, is a biotechnology investment and management company. Formed by a syndicate of top-tier venture capital investors and a world-class research institution, Accelerator identifies, evaluates, finances, and manages the development of emerging biotechnology opportunities. Accelerator has built a unique solution that addresses many of the key problems associated with investing in early-stage biotechnology by providing access to venture capital, management, scientific expertise, and facilities. For more information, please go to: www.acceleratorcorp.com.

On January 5, 2016 Israeli cancer apoptosis company ARTSaVIT LTD reported that it has completed a $6.3 million Series A round of financing led by Arkin Bio Ventures and Pontifax, with participation of M Ventures, Carmel Innovation and Carmel – Haifa University Economic Corporation Ltd (Press release, ARTSaVIT, JAN 5, 2016, View Source [SID1234561842]).

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ARTSaVIT was co-founded by Carmel, the economic corporation of the University of Haifa, Carmel Innovations Fund and Professor Sarit Larisch from the University of Haifa, Israel. Prof. Larisch has identified and characterized ARTS, a protein which regulates the levels of several important anti-apoptotic proteins by promoting their degradation. Apoptosis is a highly regulated process of natural cell death. Faulty regulation of apoptosis is implicated in many human diseases, including cancer. Moreover, resistance to apoptosis is a hallmark of most human cancers.

The insights gathered by Prof. Larisch and the unique function of ARTS led to the establishment of the company, which is developing small molecule ARTS mimetics designed to selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells. The company received seed investment from the Carmel Innovations Fund, which supported the research and development of the company to its current stage.

ARTSaVIT will move from its facilities at Carmel, University of Haifa, to the state-of-the-art facilities at the M Ventures Israel BioIncubator, which will support the development of the start-up with its infrastructure and a wide range of incubation facilities and services.

Dr. Rom Eliaz, Head of the M Ventures Israel BioIncubator commented: "We are excited to join forces with Arkin Bio Ventures, Pontifax and Carmel and would like to welcome ARTSaVit to our BioIncubator. Following the completion of this fundraising, the company is now well positioned to reach its next value inflection point".

Elka Nir, CEO of Carmel Ltd, the economic corporation of the Haifa University and CEO of Carmel Innovations Fund, noted: "We are proud and excited that M Ventures together with Arkin Bio Ventures and Pontifax invested in ARTSaVIT. It demonstrates the excellent quality and potential of the research and researchers at the University of Haifa. It is another great success for the Carmel Innovation Fund and its business model, which is funding seed companies, supporting them to a stage of significant value "

On January 5, 2016 ASLAN Pharmaceuticals reported that we are pleased to announce that we have signed an expanded licensing agreement for the compound ASLAN003 with our partner Almirall S.A. (Almirall), a global pharmaceutical company based in Barcelona (Press release, ASLAN Pharmaceuticals, JAN 5, 2016, View Source [SID:1234512876]).

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Under the terms of the broadened licence agreement, Almirall has granted ASLAN global rights to develop and commercialise ASLAN003 for all non-topical and non-dermatological indications including oncology.

On January 5, 2016 Millendo Therapeutics, Inc., reported that it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with AstraZeneca for the worldwide development and commercialization rights to AZD4901, a product candidate for the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common endocrine disease in women (Press release, Millendo Therapeutics, JAN 5, 2016, View Source [SID:1234512825]). The Company will develop the compound as MLE4901. In addition, Millendo has secured a $62 million Series B investment led by New Enterprise Associates, Inc. Previously known as Atterocor, Inc., Millendo is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel approaches for the treatment of orphan and specialty endocrine diseases.

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"This acquisition of MLE4901 combined with the new funding and our current programs around ATR-101 puts us on a new trajectory to build a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on multiple diseasemodifying treatments for endocrine disorders caused by hormone dysregulation," said Julia Owens, President and CEO of Millendo. "We are committed to developing novel treatment options for patients with significant unmet medical needs and we believe that MLE4901, a first-in-class, first-in-disease, nonhormonal therapy, has tremendous potential in the treatment of PCOS, for which there are currently no approved therapies." Owens continued, "Our new company name reflects our vision to develop a robust pipeline of endocrine therapeutics."

Under the terms of the licensing agreement, Millendo acquired global rights to develop and commercialize MLE4901. In exchange, AstraZeneca will receive an upfront payment and take an equity stake in Millendo, as well as development and commercial milestone payments. In addition, AstraZeneca is eligible to receive royalties on net product sales.

The financing was led by New Enterprise Associates and included new investors Roche Venture Fund, Adams Street Partners, Altitude Life Science Ventures, Longwood Fund, and Renaissance Venture Capital Fund, along with current Millendo investors Frazier Healthcare Partners, Osage University Partners, 5AM Ventures, and the Regents of the University of Michigan under the MINTS Program (Michigan Investment in New Technology Startup). In conjunction with the financing, Tracy Saxton of the Roche Venture Fund will join Millendo’s Board of Directors and Carol Gallagher will represent New Enterprise Associates, shifting from her role as an independent board member.

"Endocrine diseases represent a tremendous unmet medical need as well as an opportunity to develop a company focused on tackling these diseases," commented Carol Gallagher, partner at New Enterprise Associates. "Millendo has assembled an exceptionally strong team of drug development experts in this field as well as a portfolio of drug candidates that will make an important impact on the lives of many patients."

MLE4901 was developed on AstraZeneca’s Open Innovation platform, an industry-leading program that allows for the clinical development of compounds that do not fall under AstraZeneca’s R&D core focus areas. Under this pioneering effort in drug repositioning, when studies yield results indicative of a breakthrough therapy for patients, AstraZeneca partners the compound, concept, and data for prompt development to market.

"This is an example of how we are pushing the boundaries of science and collaborating with industry in an open manner to expedite the delivery of novel medicines to patients," said Kumar Srinivasan, Vice President of Scientific Partnering and Alliances with AstraZeneca’s Innovative Medicines and Early Development (IMED) Biotech unit. "Millendo’s focus and expertise in specialty endocrine diseases makes them uniquely positioned to develop this compound and bring it to patients."

About Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disease in women, and is estimated to affect 5-15% of the female population. PCOS is caused by Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) hyperpulsatility, which leads to increased luteinizing hormone (LH) pulse frequency and downstream hormonal abnormalities including androgen excess. Clinical symptoms include androgen excess, menstrual dysfunction, metabolic syndrome, and infertility. Current treatments are used off-label and directed at managing symptoms. There are no approved therapies for PCOS on the market.

About MLE4901

MLE4901 is a Neurokinin 3 receptor (NK3R) antagonist that acts to diminish GnRH hyperpulsatility and luteinizing hormone (LH) pulse frequency. In a Phase 2a clinical trial, significant reductions in LH and testosterone were observed in PCOS patients treated with MLE4901.

About ATR-101

ATR-101 is a selective small molecule inhibitor of ACAT1, which reduces adrenal steroids and induces apoptosis of cells derived from the adrenal cortex. ATR-101 is currently in clinical development for the treatment of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) with additional development areas to include congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and endogenous Cushing’s syndrome (CS).