PhoreMost extends Series B financing to $50M to advance high-value oncology and inflammation degrader programmes
September 10, 2024 – Drug Discovery, Other, Pharmaceutical – Phoremost, inflammation degraders, oncology, series B investment
- Investment to enable progression of pipeline of novel degrader assets through pre-clinical development and support further development of GlueSEEKER platform
- Led by Parkwalk Advisors alongside existing investors BGF, Dr Jonathan Milner, Amadeus Capital and Astellas Venture Management
10 September 2024 — Cambridge, UK — PhoreMost Ltd., a leading UK biopharmaceutical company unlocking the next generation of drug targets, today announced it has added USD $12 million to its Series B financing, bringing the total raised to over $50 million. The additional investment was led by Parkwalk Advisors, the largest growth EIS fund manager, with participation from existing investors BGF, Dr Jonathan Milner, Amadeus Capital and Astellas Venture Management, and will support the progression of PhoreMost’s pipeline of novel degrader assets.
PhoreMost is focused on leveraging its SITESEEKER® target ID platform to enable novel ligase discovery. Since the closure of its previous Series B financing in 2021, the Company has expanded drug discovery operations and advanced multiple next-generation degrader programmes through proof-of-concept studies following these discoveries.
This new investment will enable pipeline progression of PhoreMost’s novel degrader programmes in oncology and inflammatory diseases towards preclinical development. Additionally, the funding supports further deployment of the recently launched GlueSEEKER™ platform, informing molecular glue design for unprecedented targets, and support the growth of new and existing pharma collaborations.
Dr Neil Torbett, CEO, PhoreMost, said: “PhoreMost is at an incredibly exciting phase of development, where we are now progressing our high value oncology and inflammation degrader programmes towards preclinical studies. We are very grateful to have secured additional support from our existing investors, positioning PhoreMost to progress differentiated degrader assets across high-value therapeutic areas and cementing our business as a leader within the next-generation degrader field. I would also like to thank the PhoreMost team and all our partner organisations for helping us to achieve such excellent progress toward realising our important mission.”
Alastair Kilgour, Founder, Parkwalk Advisors, and Non-Executive Director, PhoreMost said: “The PhoreMost team has made excellent progress in developing novel therapeutic approaches within the field of targeted protein degradation, a modality that is set to deliver transformational outcomes for patients suffering with untreated conditions and revolutionise the future of medicine. We are excited to continue supporting both the leadership and scientific teams as they scale and improve the lives of millions.”
About PhoreMost Ltd
PhoreMost is progressing a pipeline of ‘next-generation’ degrader therapeutics. Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD) is a promising new way to eliminate toxic or disease-associated targets from cells, with degradation-based therapies now becoming an integral approach to tackling undruggable targets. However, despite there being over 600 known E3 ligases, the pharma industry is currently reliant upon a very small number, such as Cereblon, for degrader-based drug development. PhoreMost is unlocking the full potential of TPD and has pioneered the use of mini-protein based engineering via its proprietary target identification platforms, SITESEEKER® and GlueSEEKER™, towards developing novel therapeutic approaches to TPD. The Company has progressed multiple next-generation ligase programmes through proof-of-concept and is advancing multiple Oncology and Inflammation degrader assets towards preclinical studies. PhoreMost also has a number of disclosed alliances with partners, including: Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim and Sentinel Oncology. Visit: www.phoremost.com.
About Parkwalk
Parkwalk is the largest growth EIS fund manager, backing world-changing technologies emerging from the UK’s leading universities and research institutions. With £500m of assets under management, it has invested in over 180 companies across its Parkwalk Opportunities and Knowledge Intensive EIS Funds, as well as the award-winning enterprise and innovation funds Parkwalk manages for the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol and Imperial College. For further information visit: www.parkwalkadvisors.com
