NEW YORK – Accent Therapeutics on Tuesday announced it has raised $75 million in a Series C financing round, and that it will put the funds toward advancing its precision oncology candidates into clinical trials.
Lexington, Massachusetts-based Accent is developing a DHX9 inhibitor and a KIF18A inhibitor and plans to use the cash infusion to study these drugs' safety, pharmacokinetics, and early efficacy in clinical trials. The firm plans to submit investigational new drug applications for both assets this year.
Accent plans to study the DHX9 inhibitor as treatment for breast and ovarian cancers with BRCA loss of function as well as DNA mismatch repair deficient or microsatellite instability-high colorectal, endometrial, and gastric cancers. It also plans to evaluate the drug in other cancer types it hasn't disclosed yet. The target, DHX9, is a DNA/RNA helicase that Accent says plays a role in replication, transcription, translation, RNA splicing, RNA processing, and genomic stability maintenance. As for the KIF18A inhibitor, Accent says it will focus on cancers with high unmet need including triple-negative breast cancer.
Mirae Asset Capital Life Science led the Series C financing round, and its Managing Director Naveen Krishnan will join Accent Therapeutics' board of directors going forward. Participating new investors included Mirae Asset Capital, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Johnson & Johnson Innovation. Existing investors also participated, including The Column Group, Atlas Venture, Droia Ventures, GV, EcoR1 Capital, AbbVie Ventures, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, and Timefolio Capital.