On October 25, 2021 OncoNano Medicine, Inc. reported that the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) will convert $18.4 million in grant award funding into an equity investment in OncoNano (Press release, OncoNano Medicine, OCT 25, 2021, View Source [SID1234591901]). Proceeds of the financing will be used to support the clinical development of pegsitacianine, an innovative real-time imaging agent used in intraoperative surgical resection of solid tumors, and accelerate the advancement of the company’s first internal therapeutic development program, ONM-501, a novel immune therapeutic formulated with the company’s core delivery technology. This conversion will close OncoNano’s Series B financing round with $68.4 million in total committed capital.
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CPRIT awarded OncoNano with a grant totaling $15.4 million in 2019 to advance the company’s differentiated STING (STimulator of INterferon Genes) agonist development candidate, ONM 501, and provided a $9.97 million grant in 2020 to advance pegsitacianine, the company’s IV fluorescent nanoprobe for use in image-guided cancer surgeries. After this investment, OncoNano will still have $6.97 million of the 2020 grant available to advance the use of pegsitacianine in the visualization and resection of metastatic disease.
"CPRIT has played a crucial role in the establishment and advancement of the expanding life sciences research community in Texas. We are thrilled to continue our close partnership with CPRIT and welcome them as shareholders in OncoNano through this conversion of earlier grant awards to an equity investment in our over-subscribed Series B financing," said Martin Driscoll, CEO at OncoNano Medicine, Inc. "With the continued support of our investors, including this infusion of new capital from CPRIT, we can accelerate the development of our novel programs and expand our operations in North Texas. Our successful Series B financing will be instrumental in advancing pegsitacianine into a pivotal trial program in the U.S. and Europe and advance ONM 501 to a first in human trial in early 2023. We look forward to working together with CPRIT and our partners to bring important new interventions and treatments to cancer patients in need."
"CPRIT supported the initial research in Dr. Gao’s laboratory at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center that led to the therapies OncoNano Medicine is commercially developing today," said Wayne Roberts, CEO, CPRIT. "We’re thrilled to see the company translating that groundbreaking research into products to improve cancer patient care. With the additional equity investment in OncoNano Medicine, CPRIT helps secure Texas’ investment in, and ability to benefit from, this technology and the potential therapies it could produce."
About the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas
To date, CPRIT has awarded $2.9 billion in grants to Texas research institutions and organizations through its academic research, prevention and product development research programs. CPRIT has recruited 237 distinguished researchers, supported the establishment, expansion or relocation of 43 companies to Texas and generated over $5.7 billion in additional public and private investment. CPRIT funding has advanced scientific and clinical knowledge and provided 7.4 million life-saving cancer prevention and early detection services reaching Texans from all 254 counties. On November 5, 2019, Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to provide an additional $3 billion to CPRIT for a total $6 billion investment in cancer research and prevention.