January 7, 2016
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Cambridge, Mass.-based C4 Therapeutics has exploded out of the gate with a $73 million Series A financing round and a strategic collaboration deal with Roche.
C4 Therapeutics announced its launch from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute today. The company is focused on targeted protein degradation using proprietary Degronimid technology. The Degronimid platform was developed in 2010 by researchers at the Bradner Lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Degronimids are a new class of small molecule targeted protein degradation (TPD). These compounds target proteins that are involved in various disease processes and helps to destroy and clear them from the cell.
“We are building a world-class team of pioneers in the field of targeted protein degradation who are dedicated to our mission of developing a new class of therapeutics that will have a profound effect on many diseases,” said Marc Cohen, co-founder and executive chairman of C4, in a statement. “The use of Degronimids as a strategy for targeting traditionally undruggable proteins and overcoming resistance is extremely promising. By removing the need for ongoing target inhibition from the therapeutic equation, TPD therapeutics represent a new paradigm in drug development. C4 is a company that will develop many drugs over time in proprietary and partnered development programs.”
The Series A round was led by Cobro Ventures, with additional participation from Cormorant Asset Management, The Kraft Group, EG Capital Group, and angel investors. Both Roche and Novartis are among the other investors.
The company also announced today that it had inked a strategic collaboration with Roche to develop TPD therapeutics using Degronimid technology. The company will begin by developing TPD drugs that use Degronimid for a specific group of target proteins. A preclinical development phase has been defined, after which Roche has the option to participate in more pre- and clinical development and commercialization.
Roche is paying an undisclosed upfront fee with additional development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments per targets. There are also potential sales fees and tiered royalties on sales of products. The potential value of the deal exceeds $750 million.
“Roche is a leader and early adopter of innovation in drug discovery and this significant collaboration comes at a critical time in our development,” Cohen said in a statement. “This partnership strengthens our leadership position in the field of TPD therapeutic drug discovery. It is part of our strategy to enter into multiple target-specific partnerships that will allow us to pursue a broad set of indications in parallel, while supporting the continued development of our proprietary platform.”
The company was co-founded by Ken Anderson, Kraft Family Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center and Lebow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics at Dana-Farber. Cohen, a software and biotech entrepreneur, is also a co-founder. Nathanael Gray is a co-founder, professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, and principal investigator at Dana-Faber. And also founding is James Bradner, former associate professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and formerly an investigator at Dana-Faber.
Bradner will not be involved with C4, having recently moved to Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. Also joining the company as chief executive officer and board member is Jason Fisherman. Fisherman has a history of company building as an investor at Synthesis Capital and Advent International.
“We are pleased to have Dr. Fisherman join our growing team and believe that C4 will greatly benefit from his extensive financial, business and clinical development experience,” said Cohen in a statement. “Dr. Fisherman has 30 years of professional experience within the healthcare and life science industry and will help build our leading Degronimid pharmacology platform.”
C4 will be headquartered at Mass Innovation Labs in Kendall Square, Cambridge.
