US-based biotechnology company Diakonos Oncology has secured $11.4m in a seed financing round to progress its DCV candidate, DOC1021, into a Phase II clinical trial.
Restem Group led the “oversubscribed” investment round, which also included contributions from current investors.
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The capital injection will sustain the company’s operations until late next year, enabling it to begin the Phase II trial for glioblastoma (GBM) before a Series A funding round.
Diakonos finished enrolling subjects in the two-year Phase I study of DOC1021 for GBM treatment in December last year.
Diakonos CEO Mike Wicks said: “We greatly appreciate the support of these investors in sharing our passion for improving the lives of patients suffering from deadly cancers such as glioblastoma.
“The fact that this financing is nearly triple our initial target also shows they share our confidence in the effectiveness of our unique cancer therapy.
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By GlobalData“This investment will fund operations through the final readout of key safety and efficacy data from our Phase I trial and will allow the company to ramp up preparations for pipeline expansion and the initiation of our Phase II GBM trial, which is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.”
DOC1021 is designed to trigger a comprehensive cytotoxic TH1 immune response against cancer by utilising a unique double-loading technology.
Diakonos’ DCVs are engineered to activate potent cytotoxic TH1 cell signalling pathways, using the patient’s immune system to more effectively target and eradicate cancer cells.
This approach removes the need for preconditioning or genetic modification of immune cells.
Apart from the primary GBM study, Diakonos is carrying out two other clinical trials using its DCV for pancreatic cancer and angiosarcoma treatments.
The US Food and Drug Administration previously granted fast track designations for both the GBM and pancreatic cancer programmes, with an orphan drug designation also awarded for the GBM programme.
