In an announcement, Cleave Biosciences said that it was able to raise for its Series A extension financing from new investor New Enterprise Associates. The total Series A financing for the medical firm stands at US$54 million.
As one of the conditions of the financing, NEA partner Robert Garland MD will join the board of directors at Cleave Biosciences. On top of its financing from 2011, the company would utilize the newly raised fiunding to move its cancer drug discovery program to the stage of clinical trials as well as fund its second discovery program.
Cleave's focus is on discovering new drugs and treatments that affect the degradation of protein pathways. Cancer cells produce excessive amounts of proteins and is dependent on protein degradation for surivval. In attacking the key areas of the pathways, the cancer cells would be unable to balance out the excess protein synthesized with the body's protein degradation, resulting in death of the cancer cells.
According to Laura Shawver, PhD, CEO of Cleave Biosciences, "The targets Cleave is pursuing have the potential to have wide therapeutic impact for people who have cancers dependent on protein degradation for their survival. NEA joins us at an exciting time as we continue our progress to identify clinical candidates, as well as determine which subsets of cancers can best be addressed using the Cleave strategy."
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