Azeria Therapeutics bags €37.3m in Series B financing round

Series A lead investor CRT Pioneer Fund co-financed the Series B financing round. Azeria said it will use the proceeds to develop its preclinical FOXA1 inhibitor to Phase I clinical safety testing. FOXA1 has been shown to be pivotal in the tumour growth, progression and maintenance of oestrogen receptor positive luminal breast cancer – an area of significant unmet patient need where approximately 30% of patients progress to late stage endocrine resistant disease. Furthermore, Azeria said it will explore a pipeline of further programmes in oncology.

The company was originally founded in 2017 by Sixth Element Capital, manager of the CRT Pioneer Fund and Cancer Research UK’s Commercial Partnerships team with the aim of building a world class pioneer factor oncology company, developing breakthrough treatments for hormone resistant breast cancer patients. It was based on the work of leading expert in the field, Professor Jason Carroll at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, UK, whose scientific insights have led to the company’s new approach to target FOXA1 driven cancer.

Azeria received initial investment of £5.5 million in Series A financing from the CRT Pioneer Fund, which focuses on early stage investments in innovative oncology programmes. Syncona is the largest investor in the CRT Pioneer Fund and will now participate directly in the next stage of growth and development. Magda Jonikas and Martin Murphy of Syncona will now join the Board of Azeria.