On February 14, 2019 Vor Biopharma, an immuno-oncology company pioneering engineered hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) therapies for the treatment of hematological malignancies, reported a $42 million Series A financing round led by 5AM Ventures and RA Capital Management (Press release, Vor BioPharma, FEB 14, 2019, View Source [SID1234533328]). Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc . (JJDC), Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), and Osage University Partners also participated in the round along with Vor Co-founder PureTech Health. Vor plans to use the proceeds from the financing to advance its lead HSC-based candidate for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) towards the clinic, and to further build its pipeline to treat hematologic malignancies.

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"Vor’s unique and patented technology platform for enabling targeted immunotherapies using engineered HSCs has the potential to disrupt the treatment landscape for hematologic malignancies," said Kush Parmar, M.D., Ph.D., Managing Partner at 5AM Ventures who has joined the Vor Biopharma Board of Directors as Executive Chair. "We are excited to work with Vor to drive this next chapter of growth forward."

"The need for new therapies for hematologic malignancies is dire. I am gratified that this discovery from my lab continues to advance towards the clinic. This new platform may enable more patients to benefit from the life-saving potential of targeted immunotherapies," said Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., D.Phil, Vor Co-founder and Associate Professor of Medicine at Columbia University. "I look forward to further engaging with the scientific community when we publish our results in peer-reviewed journals."

"We are excited about Vor’s bold and novel approach to potentially revolutionize the way stem cell transplants are used to treat severe hematologic cancers," said Joshua Resnick, M.D., Managing Director at RA Capital who has also joined the Vor Biopharma Board of Directors.

Vor’s engineered HSC technology platform is designed to address fundamental limitations of today’s immunotherapies. Vor’s approach has the potential to expand the reach of targeted immunotherapies to a broad range of patient populations and hematological malignancies by enabling new dosing paradigms for cancer-targeted immunotherapies, which can substantially improve the therapeutic window for efficacy and improve patient safety.

"We are delighted to welcome this terrific syndicate of investors, who share our passion, commitment, and vision for bringing Vor’s potentially life-saving new therapies to patients with acute myeloid leukemia and other hematologic malignancies," said Bharatt Chowrira, J.D., Ph.D., Board of Directors at Vor Biopharma and President and Chief of Business & Strategy at PureTech Health