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Funding Oncorus’s Immunotherapy Platform: Next-generation Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Virus (oHSV) for Brain Cancer, Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM)

Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

 

Series A  Funding in July 2016 and in December 2016

Jul 20, 2016 at 2:19 PM

• raised $57M to battle cancer —

SOURCE

http://medcitynews.com/2016/07/qa-ceo-oncorus-just-raised-57m-battle-cancer/?rf=1

 

MPM Capital

MPM Capital, which has around $2 billion in assets, is already working with drugmakers on funding healthcare startups. This  includes a venture fund it closed last year at $400 million that included Novartis ($NVS) Astellas Pharma as investors.

http://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/ubs-raises-471m-for-a-new-kind-cancer-research-fund

(with equal contributions from MPM BV2014 and the Oncology Impact Fund), and included Deerfield Management, Arkin Bio Ventures, Celgene, Inc., Excelyrate Capital, Long March Investment Fund and MPM’s SunStates Fund.

1. MPM BV2014  – OIF will co-invest with MPM’s BV2014 venture fund in private oncology company investments.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mpm-launches-471-million-social-194500117.html

2. MPM Oncology Impact Fund (OIF)

https://www.ft.com/content/b5e1e678-0c6a-11e6-b0f1-61f222853ff3

 

 

• Excelyrate Capital – one investment in Oncorus

COINVESTORS:

•  Arkin Bio Ventures

• Celgene

• Deerfield Management

• Long March Investment Fund

• Mpm’s Sunstates Fund

 

SOURCE

http://medcitynews.com/2016/07/qa-ceo-oncorus-just-raised-57m-battle-cancer/?rf=1

http://www.finsmes.com/2016/07/immuno-oncology-company-oncorus-completes-57m-series-a-financing.html

 

December 15, 2016

 

Oncorus®, Inc. Announces Additional Series A Financing Support From Astellas Venture Management LLC (AVM)

• AVM (61-57 = $4Million) – Now all proceeds are $61Million

 

Oncorus Management – “We are thrilled to have AVM join this outstanding group of high-quality investors.

http://www.oncorus.com/board-of-directors

 

• Industry veteran and Oncorus co-founder Mitchell H. Finer, Ph.D., leads the Oncorus management team as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer and
• Cyrus D. Mozayeni, M.D., serves as President and Chief Business Officer.

 

Finer serves on Oncorus’s Board of Directors along with:
– Luke Evnin, Ph.D., MPM Capital co-founder and Chairman,
– Briggs Morrison, CEO, Syndax;
– Cameron Wheeler, Ph.D., Principal, Deerfield Management; and,
– Alon Lazarus, Ph.D., Biotech Investment Manager, Arkin Bio Ventures.

This additional funding will help advance our immunotherapy platform as we discover innovative new therapies which we hope will be of benefit to patients in need and the physicians who treat them,” said Dr. Finer.

 

Oncorus licensed certain patent rights from the University of Pittsburgh based upon the work of renowned scientists Joseph Glorioso III, Ph.D., and Paola Grandi, Ph.D., who will join Oncorus’s Scientific Advisory Board.

The company will invest in researching and developing oncolytic viral constructs which will move through preclinical development and ultimately into clinical trials. Currently, the company’s lead candidate is in preclinical development for GBM. The company will also expand and improve its technology platform and accelerate the development of pipeline programs in other forms of cancer.

 

About AVM Astellas Venture Management LLC., based in Menlo Park, California, is a corporate venture capital of Astellas Pharma Inc. (“API”), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. For over 15 years, AVM has been making strategic investments to achieve its mission to explore emerging innovative companies, which have potential to become API’s collaboration partners in R&D. For more information, please visit the website at www.astellasventure.com.

About Oncorus, Inc. Oncorus, Inc. is an early-stage biotechnology company developing a next-generation immunotherapy platform of oncolytic viruses to treat several types of cancer, including highly malignant and aggressive cancers. A leader in corporate philanthropy, Oncorus has taken a pledge to donate a portion of product sales revenue to fund promising cancer research and to support cancer care in the developing world. The company is located in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Visit www.oncorus.com, for more information.

 

SOURCE

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/574456597c65e4f329ea6950/t/5852b919d1758eb23d44fdd1/1481816345729/Oncorus+Series+A+Astellas+Press+Release+FINAL+12-15-16.pdf

http://www.oncorus.com/news-items/2016/12/15/oncorus-inc-announces-additional-series-a-financing-support-from-astellas-venture-management-llc