PHOENIX, AZ – June 5, 2019 – OncoMyx Therapeutics, a privately-held oncolytic immunotherapy company founded on the myxoma virus (MYXV) platform from Arizona State University (ASU), announced today the completion of a $25 million series A financing led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), Delos Capital, and Xeraya Capital with participation from Korea Investment Partners (KIP), City Hill Ventures, and Madison Partners. OncoMyx plans to use the proceeds to advance development of its lead oncolytic virus (OV) therapeutic program for the treatment of various cancers.
Concurrent with the financing, Steve Potts, Ph.D., MBA., founder and chief executive officer of OncoMyx, Kanad Das, Ph.D., representing BIVF, Tim Xiao, CFA., FRM., representing Delos Capital, Jason Rushton, representing Xeraya Capital, and Grant McFadden, Ph.D., founder and research advisor, have joined OncoMyx’s board of directors. Drs. Potts and Das and Messrs. Xiao and Rushton have extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical industry with track records of success. In addition to his role as Center Director and Professor of the Biodesign Center for Immunotherapy, Vaccines and Virotherapy at ASU, Dr. McFadden has pioneered the MYXV field and is widely regarded a top OV expert.
“This financing is a key step forward in advancing our pipeline of oncolytic immunotherapies,” said Dr. Potts. “We are thrilled to have this strong team of experienced investors to provide the financial resources and guidance to build our company and advance our therapeutic pipeline with the ultimate goal of delivering new treatment options to patients.”
OncoMyx’s proprietary OV platform is a unique and potentially best-in-class therapeutic approach that is backed by over 30 peer-reviewed publications by ASU Professor McFadden and his collaborators evaluating a poxvirus, MYXV, as an oncolytic agent in a wide variety of tumor models. Preclinical studies in mice and testing on cancer patient samples from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale have demonstrated encouraging immune responses against tumors. These data build upon the continued clinical validation of OVs and position OncoMyx’s platform to expand the boundaries of immuno-oncology (IO) cancer treatment and potentially benefit a large group of patients.
“OVs are emerging as a new pillar of cancer care to complement the effectiveness of immunotherapies such as immune checkpoint blockade,” said Dr. McFadden. “The best-in-class MYXV platform is the only OV in development that is collectively a non-human pathogen, inherently immuno-stimulatory, easily multi-armed, and systemically delivered.”
“We invested in OncoMyx because we believe in the potential of the myxoma-based oncolytic viruses for the treatment of solid cancers,” said Dr. Das. “I look forward to working with Steve, Grant and the rest of the team to develop drugs that help improve patients’ lives across a range of malignancies.”
About OncoMyx Therapeutics
OncoMyx Therapeutics, a startup launched from Arizona State University (ASU), develops oncolytic immunotherapies based on the myxoma virus (MYXV) platform to orchestrate an immune response and treat cancer. Successful immuno-oncology (IO) cancer treatment generally requires combination therapy, and oncolytic viruses (OVs) have emerged as a safe and effective IO complement. The company’s MYXV platform, spun out from ASU, is poised to be a best-in-class OV approach, and the top OV team has assembled around MYXV to create important new therapeutic options for cancer patients. For more information, please visit www.oncomyx.com.
