NEW YORK – Diakonos Oncology on Monday said it raised $11.4 million in a seed financing round, which it will use to advance its pipeline, including a Phase I trial of its personalized cancer vaccine DOC1021 in glioblastoma.
Restem Group led the funding round, which included participation from existing investors.
Houston-based Diakonos is developing cancer vaccines comprising the patient's dendritic cells loaded with personalized cancer antigens.
In the Phase I trial of DOC1021, the firm's lead agent, Diakonos is evaluating the safety and feasibility of delivering the vaccine in at least nine and up to 24 patients with glioblastoma following surgical resection and standard chemotherapy and radiation. Researchers will track safety and potential toxicity of the vaccine as the primary outcome in the trial, as well as secondary outcomes including progression-free survival and overall survival.
In an interim analysis of this study, patient survival had surpassed the expected median overall survival for standard-of-care treatment and the median overall survival for the trial had not been reached, according to the company. The 12-month survival rate was 88 percent. Diakonos is also conducting two other Phase I trials of DOC1021 in pancreatic cancer and angiosarcoma.
Diakonos said the capital from the financing will fund operations through late 2025, including a final readout of safety and efficacy in the Phase I trial, and allow the company to begin a Phase II trial of DOC1021 in glioblastoma in Q4 2024, at which point it hopes to close a Series A financing round.
The amount that Diakonos has raised in seed financing is nearly triple the firm's target, which "shows [that investors] share our confidence in the effectiveness of our unique cancer therapy," Diakonos CEO Mike Wicks said in a statement.