Tragara Completes $12M Series B Financing New Round to Fund Continued Clinical Development of TG02
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29 August 2013
San Diego – September 3, 2013 – Tragara Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has secured $12 million in the close of a Series B financing. Participating investors included Domain Associates, Mitsubishi International Corporation, Morgenthaler Ventures, ProQuest Investments and RusnanoMedInvest (RMI).
“There is strong support for the potential of our novel kinase inhibitor, TG02, in battling difficult-to-treat cancers”, said Thomas Estok, president and CEO of Tragara. “We are happy to have the continued confidence and enthusiasm of our investors in the development vision we have established for TG02”.
TG02 is currently in phase I clinical testing, with separate clinical trials studying patients with multiple myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia in the United States. A phase Ib study of TG02 in combination with carfilzomib in patients with multiple myeloma is nearing initiation and will be announced shortly. A phase I study in acute leukemia has been completed.
About TG02
TG02 is a unique, oral multi-kinase inhibitor which combines the benefits of inhibiting important cyclin dependent kinases equipotently with JAK2, FLT3, and ERK5 inhibition. TG02 exerts its antitumor activity primarily via its potent CDK9 inhibition, which leads to the depletion of key survival proteins, such as Mcl-1, resulting in p53-independent apoptosis of a wide range of tumor cells. TG02 development will initially focus on the treatment of hematologic malignancies, including multiple myeloma (MM) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), based on the consistent anti-tumor activity that has been observed across a broad spectrum of hematologic cancer models, including those resistant to currently available therapies.
In these models, TG02 demonstrated both single agent activity and synergy when administered with current standard of care therapies. Subsequent development will focus on an important group of solid tumors with unmet medical need, such as small cell lung cancer, triple negative breast cancer, and melanoma, which will also benefit from this mechanism of action, complemented with the benefits of inhibiting both JAK2 and ERK5. These pathways affect disease progression and survival in hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.
TG02 is currently being evaluated in two separate phase I clinical trials in patients with MM and CLL in the United States. Subsequent phase Ib clinical studies of TG02 in combination with other agents are planned for later in 2013 and 2014.
In early 2010, TG02 was selected by the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation as a winner of its Biotech Investment Award, which represents a multi-year research grant commitment to fund the earlystage drug development of novel compounds that show potential in treating MM.
About Tragara
Tragara Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately held pharmaceutical company based in San Diego, Calif. The company is focused on the clinical and commercial development of proprietary medicines for the treatment of cancer. TG02 is a unique, oral multi-kinase inhibitor which combines the benefits of inhibiting important cyclin dependent kinases equipotently with JAK2, FLT3, and ERK5 inhibition. TG02 exerts its antitumor activity via its potent CDK9 inhibition, which leads to the depletion of key survival proteins, such as Mcl-1, resulting in p53-independent apoptosis of a wide range of tumor cells. Tragara is managed by a team of entrepreneurs with both Big Pharma and Biotech experience in the development and commercialization of oncology therapeutics. Its investors include: Domain Associates, Mitsubishi International Corporation, Morganthaler Ventures, ProQuest Investments and RusnanoMedInvest.
Tragara strives to provide much-needed therapies that will contribute to patient health through better survival and an increase in the quality of life.
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