Boston– CORE Biomedicine raised $21 million in a Series A financing and received a grant from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development to advance its oncology drug programs.
UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd. and Elikon Venture co-led the financing. Other participants included InnoPinnacle Fund, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital Co., Ltd., Suzhou Capital Group Co., Ltd., CD Capital, YuanBio Venture Capital, Vision Incubate Co., Ltd. and Root Venture Partners.
CORE Biomedicine is developing lineage-based precision oncology therapies designed to identify and target key cancer drivers while potentially expanding the number of patients eligible for treatment.
The company said the financing and grant funding will support its lead programs through drug discovery and early clinical development.
CORE Biomedicine Japan, a wholly owned subsidiary, received the grant through AMED’s Strengthening Program for Pharmaceutical Startup Ecosystem. The program supports biotechnology startups and efforts to expand Japan’s biopharmaceutical industry.
The grant will support research and development activities and collaborations with Japanese universities, hospitals and other biopharmaceutical organizations.
“This venture financing and AMED’s support represent a major milestone for CORE Biomedicine and validate our vision for a new generation of oncology medicines,” said Ping Zhu, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of CORE Biomedicine.
“We are grateful to our investors and partners as we advance our programs toward the clinic with the goal of bringing transformative therapies to patients globally,” Zhu added.
Makoto Ohori, Ph.D., partner and chief investment officer for life sciences at UTokyo Innovation Platform, said CORE Biomedicine’s approach addresses challenges in cancer biology that cannot be solved through genomics alone.
“We are proud to co-lead this financing and look forward to supporting the CORE Biomedicine team as they advance their programs toward the clinic,” Ohori said.
Elikon Venture said it supported the company’s oncology research experience and plans to work with CORE Biomedicine as it advances its drug pipeline.
