Date: 2013-02-11
Type of information: Fundraising
Company: Piqur Therapeutics (Switzerland)
Investors:
Amount:
Funding type: seed financing
Planned used: * On February 11, 2013, Piqur Therapeutics has announced it has secured funding to start the development of innovative anti-cancer therapies. This targeted cancer therapy start-up company was incorporated in August 2011 as a spin-off of the University of Basel. Financing for the preclinical development has been secured in seed funding in October 2012 from private investors and the Swiss Innovation Promotion Agency KTI/CTI. In addition to that PIQUR is enjoying unique support by its hosting University of Basel, both in terms of IP funding and the use of laboratories and support. These funds will be spent for the preclinical pharmacology and regulatory toxicology studies and the operational set-up of the company.
Others: PIQUR is a spin-off of the University of Basel, and there is a licence agreement between the two institutions. The research group of Prof. Dr. Matthias P. Wymann, a professor at the Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics at the University of Basel, has shown how knowledge of the molecular processes involved in the development of disease can be used to develop targeted therapies.The aim of PIQUR’s activities is to turn cancer into a manageable disease. PIQUR targets the PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase) and mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) pathways. While mTOR is a clinically validated drug target, PI3K inhibition achieved proof of concept status in clinical phase IIb. PIQUR has a secured patent space, has protected a large portion of relevant chemical space.
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
