Oct 8 2014
Avidity NanoMedicines today announced that it has expanded its investor syndicate through the closing of a $6 million convertible note financing co-led by Fidelity Biosciences and TPG Biotech.
Other investors in the financing include Brace Pharmaceuticals, Partner Fund Management, L.P. and existing investor Alethea Capital Management. Ben Auspitz from Fidelity Biosciences and Eran Nadav, Ph.D. from TPG Biotech will join Avidity's board as observers. Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance new cancer therapies that utilize the company's proprietary antibody-siRNA complex (ARC™) platform.
Avidity is based on pioneering nanoparticle technology developed by Mark Davis, Schlinger Professor of Chemical Engineering at Caltech. Avidity NanoMedicines was founded to advance a new class of therapeutics, antibody-siRNA complexes (ARCsTM), which employ antibody-targeted nanoparticles containing siRNA payloads. The technology draws on the precise targeting associated with antibody-drug conjugates and the exquisite selectivity of nucleic acid-based medicines.
"Avidity NanoMedicines has recruited an exceptional team and is working on a fundamentally important problem – namely, the targeted delivery of nucleic acids to tumor cells and tissues outside the liver," said Ben Auspitz, Partner at Fidelity Biosciences. "We have been impressed with the strategy and the science, and we are enthusiastic supporters of the continued evolution of Avidity."
"Over the past several years, we have witnessed a resurgence in RNA interference and other nucleic acid-based therapeutic approaches," added Eran Nadav, Ph.D., Partner and Managing Director at TPG Biotech. "We are now at an inflection point where advances in material and polymer science could enable a transformative shift in cancer treatment."
"The promise and potential of targeted delivery has been a long-standing goal in the field of nucleic acid-based medicines," said Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., President, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Avidity NanoMedicines. "We are taking Mark Davis' pioneering efforts in nanoparticle-based therapeutics, and building on them to advance breakthrough therapies in oncology. We are delighted to welcome these new investors to Avidity as our partners to realize this vision."