Loki Therapeutics Announces Seed Financing to Develop Therapeutics that Enhance Longevity and Treat Immune-system Related Diseases

LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y., Jan. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Loki Therapeutics, a company developing next- generation therapeutics that leverage vaccination recall antigens to enhance longevity and treat immune-system related diseases, including cancer, today announced that it has secured seed financing led by Formic Ventures. With this additional funding, Loki has been able to raise a total of $2 million to date. Loki plans to utilize proceeds from the funding for the manufacturing of clinical grade materials and regulatory work to enable the company's first-in-human clinical trial.

Formic Ventures is an early-stage, high-tech and biotech investment firm focused on prolonging human health span and empowering human creativity.  Formic was founded by Michael Antonov.

Loki Co-founder and CEO Chris Bradley said, "This financing allows us to advance the development of Loki's potentially groundbreaking AWAKE™ platform, which activates and redirects pre-existing memory T cells created during vaccination to treat cancer and other immune-mediated diseases.  Garnering the support of Formic Ventures and Michael Antonov, who has helped advanced numerous next-generation technologies including Oculus, provides important validation for our company and technology as we aim to bring our first programs into the clinic. Michael also founded The Michael Antonov Foundation, a charitable organization that supports innovative biotechnology companies that seek to advance cutting-edge medicines to treat diseases for which no effective therapeutics currently exist."

"We are delighted to lead this financing for Loki, a company with a platform that shows significant promise for extending the longevity and quality of life of patients with numerous immune-system related diseases," added Antonov. "Loki's unique approach of awakening immune memory has the potential to become a completely new category of cancer treatment, unlocking a wide variety of benefits for treating difficult solid tumors more effectively and affordably than current alternatives, while providing similar benefits for other diseases associated with weakened immune systems."

Loki's AWAKE™ platform offers a completely new approach to treating cancer and other diseases caused by immune-system breakdown by activating and redirecting pre-existing memory T cells created during vaccination to target and eliminate cancer cells, as well as target other immune-related diseases. Loki's lead program – AWAKE-LM-TT – capitalizes on the childhood vaccination for tetanus to generate a powerful and immediate immune response to solid tumors and metastases presenting the tetanus antigens. Loki is currently advancing AWAKE-LM-TT as a potential treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancer, as well as metastatic ovarian cancer.  Loki is also pursuing additional development programs based on other childhood vaccines, including polio (AWAKE-LM-PV) and mumps.

Developed by Loki Co-Founder and Principal Scientist Claudia Gravekamp, Ph.D., who also serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and member of the Albert Einstein Cancer Center, AWAKE utilizes non-pathogenic microbes (attenuated Listeria monocytogenes) for the precise delivery of vaccine recall antigens to tumor microenvironments and into tumor cells.

About Formic Ventures
Formic Ventures is a diversified venture capital firm that makes early-stage investments in biotechnology startups focused on human longevity as well as technology startups and companies that make human lives more meaningful. 

About Loki Therapeutics
Loki Therapeutics is developing next-generation therapeutics that leverage vaccination recall antigens to enhance longevity and treat immune-system related diseases, including cancer, by delivering vaccine recall antigens to tumor cells with genetically attenuated bacterial vectors.

Loki's AWAKE™ platform offers a completely new approach to treating cancer and other diseases caused by immune-system breakdown by activating and redirecting pre-existing memory T cells created during vaccination to target and eliminate cancer cells, as well as target other immune-related diseases. Key to AWAKE is its utilization of attenuated Listeria Monocytogenes for the precise delivery of recall antigens to tumor environments and into the tumor cell.  Loki's lead development program – AWAKE-LM-TT – capitalizes on the childhood vaccination for tetanus toxoid (TT) to generate an immune response to solid tumors and metastases presenting the tetanus antigens.  Loki is currently advancing AWAKE-LM-TT as a potential treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancer, as well as metastatic ovarian cancer.  Loki is also pursuing additional development programs based on other childhood vaccines, including polio (AWAKE-LM-PV) and mumps.  For more information on Loki Therapeutics please visit www.lokitx.com.

Contacts
Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.
Lisa Sher (Investors)
[email protected]

David Schemelia (Media)
[email protected]

SOURCE Loki Therapeutics