Date: 2014-09-23
Type of information: Loan
Company: BerGenBio (Norway)
Investors: Wellcome Trust (UK)
Amount: £1.6 million (NOK 16 million - € 2 million)
Funding type: convertible loan
Planned used: BGB002 is a novel cancer target identified by BerGenBio, which controls tumour cell malignant features. This gene is up-regulated in several cancer types including the difficult to treat malignancies such as triple-negative-breast cancer. Using its CellSelect™ technology, BerGenBio demonstrated that BGB002 strongly activates tumour cell Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), a precursor to metastatic spread. Subsequent target validation studies demonstrated BGB002’s unique and pivotal role in mediating EMT, facilitating the escape of transformed cells and engendering resistance to standard of care anti-cancer regimens. BerGenBio holds patent applications on BGB002 and is developing novel selective small molecule inhibitors to the target with Sygnature Discovery Ltd, the UK’s largest independent service provider of integrated drug discovery, with expertise in medicinal chemistry, in vitrobioscience, computational chemistry and informatics. The award will be used to develop novel small molecule inhibitors against this novel target.
Others: * On September 23, 2014, BerGenBio, an oncology biopharmaceutical company, announced it has been granted a £1.6 million (NOK 16 million) Seeding Drug Discovery Award from the UK’s Wellcome Trust to develop novel small molecule inhibitors against BGB002, its proprietary, novel cancer target. The Award, which is made in the form of a convertible loan, will fund the next phase of the Company’s BGB002 development project over the next 12 months.
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
