Date: 2016-05-03
Type of information: Series A financing round
Company: Ideaya Bioscience (USA - CA)
Investors: 5AM Ventures (USA - CA) Canaan Partners (USA - CA) Celgene (USA - NJ) WuXi Healthcare Ventures (China) Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research -Alexandria Real Estate
Amount: $46 million
Funding type: series A financing round
Planned used:
- Ideaya is an oncology-focused biotechnology company committed to the discovery of breakthrough synthetic lethality medicines targeting DNA damage and repair for genetically defined patient populations and for enhancing immunotherapy response, and immuno-oncology therapies targeting the tumor micro-environment.
- Synthetic lethality targeting DNA damage and repair pathways, a longstanding concept in genetic models systems and cancer biology, has recently become a therapeutic reality with the approval of a PARP-inhibitor, olaparib, in BRCA deficient ovarian cancer. Ideaya will focus on novel synthetic lethal interactions for genetically defined patient populations, exploiting inherent tumor susceptibilities en-route to discovery and development of small-molecule agents to treat major human cancers.
- Another area of focus for Ideaya will be to exploit the potential of modulating DNA repair to augment response to immunotherapy. In addition, drug discovery programs will target pathways known to produce an immune suppressed tumor microenvironment, enabling tumors to escape recognition by the host immune system.
- The company is led by industry veterans Yujiro S. Hata, M.B.A, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer; Jeffrey Hager, Ph.D., co-founder and Senior Vice President and Head of Biology; and Michael Dillon, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Head of Drug Discovery.
Others:
- • On May 3, 2016, Ideaya Biosciences announced the closing of a $46 million Series A financing from 5AM Ventures (5AM), Canaan Partners (Canaan), Celgene, WuXi Healthcare Ventures (WuXi), Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research, and Alexandria Real Estate. Ideaya has assembled a world-class drug discovery team and Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) that is represented by a Nobel Laureate and three Members of the National Academy of Sciences.
- Coincident with the close of the Series A financing, Tim Shannon, M.D., General Partner at Canaan, joined the Company’s Board of Directors, and Robert Hershberg, Chief Scientific Officer at Celgene, and Edward Hu, Founding Partner at WuXi Healthcare Ventures, joined as Board Observers, which includes John Diekman, Chairman and Founding Partner at 5AM, Terry Rosen, Chief Executive Officer at Arcus Biosciences, Jeff Stein, Chief Executive Officer at Cidara Therapeutics, and Board Observer, Hannah Chang, M.D., Associate at 5AM.
- Ideaya also announced that it has assembled a Scientific Advisory Board that includes luminaries in the fields of DNA damage and repair, synthetic lethality, immunology, and drug discovery and development including Alan D’Andrea (Dana Farber), John Petrini (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center), Trey Ideker (University of California, San Diego), Stephen Kowalczykowski (University California, Davis, Member of the National Academy), Elizabeth Swisher (University of Washington), Bruce Beutler (UT Southwestern, Nobel Laureate and Member of the National Academy), Christopher Goodnow (Garvin Institute, Member of the National Academy), Richard Ulevitch (Scripps Research Institute), Paul Reide (Princeton University), and Laura Shawver (Cleave Biosciences).
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Is general: Yes
