Pinpoint Therapeutics Raises $1 Million Seed Round Led by Kairos Ventures
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Pinpoint Therapeutics, Inc. ("Pinpoint"), a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel autophagy inhibitors to treat cancer, announced today that it has raised $1 million in debt financing led by Kairos Ventures of Beverly Hills, California.
Pinpoint was founded by researchers Ravi K. Amaravadi, M.D., and Jeffrey D. Winkler, Ph.D., from the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center and the Department of Chemistry, to develop new autophagy inhibitors for cancer treatments. Autophagy is a well-established mechanism of cancer cell survival and drug resistance. Pinpoint's novel compounds target a recently discovered enzyme in the autophagy pathway called PPT1, which is highly expressed across most cancers. These inhibitors could be applied to a broad range of cancers alone or in combination with other treatments to overcome therapy resistance. Pinpoint will develop first-in-class autophagy inhibitors into clinical drugs for testing in a range of treatment-refractory cancers.
"This initial round of financing will allow us to develop a new approach to drugging autophagy, which until now seemed difficult to target in cancer. The activity of PPT1 inhibitors in cancer models has not been seen before in the autophagy space," said Christian Peters, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Pinpoint.
"Pinpoint has developed best-in-class compounds with unprecedented therapeutic potential and we are thrilled to support their efforts as they develop these novel drug-candidates for treatment of colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, melanoma, and other major unmet needs in oncology," said Jim Demetriades, founder and Managing Partner of Kairos Ventures.
About Kairos Ventures
Kairos Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Los Angeles, California, that works closely with the world's leading universities and research institutions to identify and support the commercialization of transformative technologies. Kairos invests in patented scientific advances in life sciences and engineering that have the potential to deliver substantial impact for our world and remarkable returns for our Investors. In addition to providing capital, Kairos supports our portfolio of companies with the professional business and scientific expertise to maximize their potential from early seed through incubation and growth. For more information, visit https://www.kairosventures.com/.
About Pinpoint Therapeutics
Pinpoint Therapeutics is a preclinical stage company developing novel cancer treatment options aimed to specifically inhibit autophagy, a key cell survival and treatment resistance pathway in cancer. Pinpoint inhibitors target a recently discovered enzyme in the autophagy pathway called PPT1, which is highly expressed across most cancers. These inhibitors could be applied to a broad range of cancers alone or in combination to overcome therapy resistance. Further development of these compounds towards clinical drug candidates will be undertaken by Pinpoint Therapeutics to determine the clinical utility of this novel treatment strategy. The company was launched in 2018 through PCI Ventures, a division of the Penn Center for Innovation (PCI) at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Pinpoint Therapeutics, Inc.
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https://www.pinpointtherapeutics.com/
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