On April 4, 2016 Israeli cancer metabolism company Metabomed LTD. reported that it has completed an extension of its Series A round from current and new investors, bringing the total of its raise to $ 18 million (Press release, Metabomed, APR 4, 2016, View Source [SID:1234510367]). Existing investors include MS Ventures, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), Pontifax Fund, and the Technion Research and Development Foundation. New investors Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Arkin Holdings also joined the round. The final transaction is subject to the successful completion of the approval process by the Israel Antitrust Authority.
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Metabomed was co-founded by MS Ventures and three leading researchers in the field of cancer metabolism and computational biology — Prof. Eyal Gottlieb from the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, UK, Prof. Eytan Ruppin from Tel Aviv University and the University of Maryland, and Prof. Tomer Shlomi from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.
Metabomed is focusing on the discovery and development of potential small molecule drugs directed against novel targets in the field of cancer metabolism. Based on its proprietary interdisciplinary target identification platform, Metabomed utilizes a unique approach to discovery, which allows the company to potentially identify new targets that form a synthetic lethal gene pair with metabolic genes inactivated in cancer cells. By inhibiting these targets, Metabomed intends to develop more selective anti-cancer drugs that may potentially be highly targeted, and therefore sparing of normal cells.
Metabomed operates out of the state-of-the-art facilities at the MS Ventures Israel BioIncubator, which has supported the development of the new start-up with its infrastructure and a wide range of incubation services. Following the completion of this round, Simone Botti, current Head of the MS Ventures Israel BioIncubator, will leave his position in order to join Metabomed as its full-time CEO.
Simone Botti commented: "This Series A extension is a major success for Metabomed.. We believe that the vote of confidence from the existing syndicate and the addition of new top tier investors such as Pfizer and Arkin Holdings confirm the excitement around Metabomed and its technology, and I am very honored to have been chosen to lead the company as its CEO."
"We are proud to work with companies such as Metabomed that are exploring exciting and innovative technologies that may help lead to potential new treatment options in the field of oncology," said Robert Abraham, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Head of Pfizer’s Oncology-Rinat Research & Development Group, who will also become a member of Metabomed’s scientific advisory board. "Metabomed shares in our mission to deliver safer and more effective medicines to our patients."