Vor Biopharma Closes $110 Million Series B Financing
Proceeds will advance the company’s lead program into clinical trials and expand the portfolio
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., – July 7, 2020 – Vor Biopharma, an oncology company pioneering engineered hematopoietic stem cells (eHSCs) for the treatment of cancer, today announced it has raised $110 million in a Series B financing. Proceeds will advance the company’s lead candidate VOR33 into clinical trials, deepen its portfolio, and accelerate the validation of additional targets for its scientific platform, which is designed to remove redundant proteins so that transplanted stem cells become invisible to targeted therapies while leaving diseased cells vulnerable. Vor’s treatment strategy has the potential to bring a revolutionary treatment paradigm for patients with acute myeloid leukemia and other hematologic malignancies.
“Vor has an elegant approach to engineering hematopoietic stem cells that we believe is amongst the most promising innovations in oncology,” said Joshua Resnick, MD, Managing Director at RA Capital Management. “We are proud to support the efforts of their impressive team of experienced leaders and drug developers as they work aggressively to establish a new standard of care in stem cell transplants and forge ahead into first-in-human clinical studies.”
RA Capital Management led the Series B financing, along with a diverse group of well-respected new investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company, LLC, Pagliuca Family Office, Alexandria Venture Investments, and other undisclosed investors, including additional institutional crossover investors. Existing investors 5AM Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Innovation — JJDC, Inc. (JJDC), Osage University Partners, and co-founder PureTech Health participated in the financing.
“The high caliber of investors participating in this financing underscores the tremendous potential of our eHSC platform,” said Robert Ang, MBBS, MBA, Vor’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We have ambitious goals for the coming year, and this financing is an important step as we prepare to treat cancer patients in our first clinical trials.”
About Vor Biopharma
Vor Biopharma aims to transform the lives of cancer patients by pioneering engineered hematopoietic stem cell (eHSC) therapies. By removing biologically redundant proteins from eHSCs, these cells become inherently invulnerable to complementary targeted therapies while tumor cells are left susceptible, thereby unleashing the potential of targeted therapies to benefit cancer patients in need.
Vor’s platform could be used to potentially change the treatment paradigm of both hematopoietic stem cell transplants and targeted therapies, such as antibody drug conjugates, bispecific antibodies and CAR-T cell treatments. The results of a proof-of-concept preclinical study for Vor’s lead program has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Vor is based in Cambridge, Mass. and has a broad intellectual property base, including in-licenses from Columbia University, where foundational work was conducted by inventor and Vor Scientific Board Chair Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil.
About VOR33
Vor’s lead product candidate, VOR33, consists of engineered hematopoietic stem cells (eHSCs) that lack the protein CD33. Once these cells are transplanted into a cancer patient, we believe that CD33 will become a far more cancer-specific target, potentially avoiding toxicity to the normal blood and bone marrow associated with CD33-targeted therapies. Vor aims to improve the therapeutic window and effectiveness of CD33-targeted therapies, thereby potentially broadening the clinical benefit to patients suffering from acute myeloid leukemia.
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