Company intends to develop and extend its diverse pipeline of therapies for cancer and immune diseases, beginning with four entities
- Company intends to develop and extend its diverse pipeline of therapies for cancer and immune diseases, beginning with four entities
- Leadership team includes founding chief financial officer Michael Wyzga, formerly of Genzyme
HOUSTON, May 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sporos Bioventures, LLC (the “Company” or “Sporos”), officially launched today with the close of a $38.1 million Series A financing. The Company, founded by a group of biotech executives, entrepreneurs, academic scholars, and investors, was formed to catalyze the rapid and accurate development of breakthrough therapies that target novel disease mechanisms in cancer and immune diseases. Harnessing its vast network of industry leaders, strategic resources, and operational expertise, Sporos aims to bring new hope to patients in a more efficient and impactful manner. In parallel to the Series A, Michael Wyzga, M.B.A., former chief financial officer of Genzyme, joins the team as Founding CFO.
“Sporos was founded to accelerate the development of new medicines by addressing inefficiencies and risk in the establishment of new biotech companies,” said Peter Feinberg, Sporos co-founder and member of the board of directors. “By leveraging our extensive network, including the Texas Medical Center, which is the world’s largest research and medical ecosystem, we first identify transformative scientific opportunities and then deploy our top-tier talent, funding and operational support to drive these insights into a growing pipeline of first-in-class treatment options.”
Sporos launches with four entities, each founded on the basis of truly novel mechanisms governing cancer and immune disease. The Company plans to use the Series A proceeds to support the development of lead assets across its portfolio and build out the Sporos team.
Sporos’ most advanced company, Tvardi, is developing small molecule inhibitors to STAT3, a key regulatory protein integral to the survival and immune evasion of cancer cells as well as to the pathogenesis of many inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. Early clinical studies have shown that Tvardi’s lead asset in cancer, TTI-101, is well tolerated and has clinical activity across a broad range of tumors including multiple durable responses.
“By strategically deploying valuable resources to young companies that would not typically be supported by top-tier seasoned talent and infrastructure, we believe that we can efficiently bring a diverse set of therapies through clinical development,” said Mr. Wyzga. “I am thrilled to join a team with decades of scientific and operational expertise and look forward to guiding our strategic and financial growth.”
Sporos’ founding team includes industry veterans with a mix of impressive scientific expertise and operational understanding of the biotech industry, as well as deep roots in Boston, New York and the burgeoning Houston biotech ecosystem. Notable founders include: Sporos’ Chair of the Strategic Advisory Council, a group of medical and scientific advisors, Ronald DePinho, M.D., Ph.D. (hon), professor of Cancer Biology and past president of MD Anderson; Sporos Director Peter Feinberg, co-founder of BridgeBio Pharma, founding partner at Boxcar Partners and advisor and board member of Immuneering Corporation; Chief Scientific Officer Jeno Gyuris, Ph.D., an experienced biotech executive in oncology drug discovery and development; and Sporos Director Alex Cranberg, an entrepreneur and business leader with strong ties to the Texas and Houston biotech ecosystem through his time on the University of Texas Board of Regents.
About Sporos
Sporos is transforming knowledge into new hope for patients. With deep roots in Texas, connections within Texas Medical Center (TMC) and reach across the industry, the Company identifies novel disease mechanisms and strategically deploys talent, capital and access to operational resources to catalyze the development of breakthrough medicines. Sporos’ current pipeline is diversified across four entities and includes multiple clinical-stage candidates that are being investigated for the treatment of multiple indications in cancer and immune disease.
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