NEW YORK – 858 Therapeutics on Thursday said it raised $50 million in a Series B financing round to advance its pipeline of small molecule therapeutics, including the poly (ADP) ribose glycohydrolase (PARG) inhibitor ETX-19477.
Avidity Partners led the financing with participation from new investors Insight Partners, Mirae Asset Capital, and Alexandria Venture Investments, as well as existing investors Versant Ventures, NEA, and Logos Capital. Avidity Managing Director Monal Mehta will join 858's board of directors as part of the deal.
San Diego-based 858 is evaluating ETX-19477 in a Phase I clinical trial as a treatment for advanced solid tumors. PARG is involved in DNA damage response, and PARG depletion or inhibition has been shown to reduce cellular proliferation by arresting cells during replication or inducing programmed cell death.
To be eligible for the trial, patients must have an advanced solid cancer, except for primary central nervous system tumors, that has progressed on or after systemic therapy. 858 is enrolling patients with specific tumor types and genetic alterations likely to confer sensitivity to PARG inhibitors, particularly patients with known BRCA2 mutations. Investigators will track the safety and tolerability of ETX-19477 as the endpoint of the trial. Secondary endpoints will include objective response rate, duration of response rate, and disease control rate.
858 launched in September 2021 with $60 million in Series A funding to develop small molecule drugs against oncology targets, particularly proteins regulating RNA and the innate immune response.