J.P. Morgan Leads $100M Financing for Startup’s R&D of Covalent Biologic Drugs for Cancer

Enlaza Therapeutics’ drugs form covalent bonds that lock the therapy onto its target. With cancer as its initial focus, the startup contends its approach could offer safety and efficacy advantages compared to currently available targeted therapies.

Treating cancer with medicines that tightly attach to their targets via covalent bonds is not a new concept in drug discovery, but it is picking up pace. Some companies are trying to improve this approach as they employ covalency to address elusive targets. These efforts, at least the publicly known ones, are focused on small molecules. Enlaza Therapeutics is working to bring covalency to biologic therapies and it has raised $100 million for efforts that include work in one of the hottest areas of cancer drug research.

The Series A financing announced Tuesday was led by the life sciences group of J.P. Morgan.

Besides J.P. Morgan, other participants in Enlaza’s new financing include earlier investors Frazier Life Sciences, Avalon Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Samsara BioCapital. New investors in the startup include Amgen Ventures, Regeneron Ventures, Bregua Corporation, Pappas Capital, and Alexandria Venture Investments.

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By Frank Vinluan Via MedCity News

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