BOSTON– Tasca Therapeutics Corp. (“Tasca”), a biotechnology company leveraging a unique drug discovery platform that identifies and maps novel lipid-binding pockets on proteins to develop new medicines to treat human diseases, today announced a $52 million Series A financing, co-led by Regeneron Ventures and Cure Ventures, with participation by Invus Group. This funding will be used to advance Tasca’s novel drug discovery platform, progress its lead program, CP-383, into Phase 1/2 clinical proof-of-concept studies, and to expand its drug candidate pipeline.
“We are excited to enter this next phase of company growth with financial support from such leading life science investors and the continued backing of our pioneering scientific co-founders – Xu Wu, Ph.D., David Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., and Duojia Pan, Ph.D.,” said Milenko Cicmil, co-founder and chief executive officer of Tasca. “Our first development candidate, CP-383, is a unique first-in-class molecule demonstrating excellent efficacy across multiple cancer types and we are looking forward to progressing it into the clinic.”
Named after the Italian word for “pocket,” Tasca is harnessing the power of mass spectrometry-based proteomics, coupled with the use of proprietary reagents, to identify proteins that undergo a specific post-translational modification called auto-palmitoylation. The specific sites of auto-palmitoylation, once mapped and characterized, serve as unique binding sites for novel therapeutics that can be developed to modify the function of the target protein. The auto-palmitoylated proteins Tasca identified represent a rich source of druggable targets across a range of therapeutic indications.
Tasca’s most advanced drug candidate, CP-383, is a first-in-class molecule that has demonstrated robust anti-cancer activity in both in vitro and in vivo studies across a broad range of human cancers, and will initially be evaluated in small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, head and neck cancer, and brain cancer patients.
Tasca’s executive leadership team brings decades of experience in drug discovery and development, as well as a successful history of launching and leading new biotechnology programs and start-ups. Tasca’s executives have held major roles at several big pharma companies, including Merck, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Novartis. Their deep understanding of oncology matched with drug development and business expertise will enable them to find creative solutions for challenges faced by early-stage biotechnology companies.
“I was immediately impressed by Tasca’s in vivo data, that combined with the amazing leadership that Milenko provides and backing of strong firms like Regeneron Ventures and Cure Ventures,” said Praveen Tipirneni, M.D., and chairman of the board. “I look forward to bringing my Morphic Therapeutic experience to the Tasca team.”
Added Dave Fallace, co-founder and managing partner at Cure Ventures: “We founded Cure Ventures to help develop curative technologies and Tasca is expanding the boundaries of science with the potential of their platform. The prospect of being able to drug previously undruggable targets in oncology and potentially other indications differentiates Tasca from the competition. We’re confident in their programs and look forward to supporting them as they advance their platform and pipeline.”
