Conforma Therapeutics Completes Round of Private Financing to Support Clinical Development.SAN DIEGO -- Conforma Therapeutics Corporation today announced that it closed the final tranche of its Series C financing, securing an additional $11 million and bringing the total Series C funding to $41.5 million. Major participating investors included Domain Associates, Forward Ventures, Inglewood Ventures, Lilly BioVentures, Novo A/S, ProQuest Investments, RBC RBC red blood cell. RBC or rbc abbr. red blood cell RBC, n See red blood cell count. RBC red blood cells; red blood (cell) count (see blood count). Capital Partners, RiverVest Venture Partners, and S.R. One, Limited, all of whom were original investors in the Series C round. The funding will be used to advance the clinical development of Conforma's portfolio of small molecule oncology drugs that are directed against the HSP (Hosting Service Provider) An organization that specializes in hosting Web sites. There are various levels of offerings from sharing a Web server with several other companies to having a dedicated Web server or to providing co-location services. See co-location. 90 family of cellular chaperones. The Company is in Phase I clinical testing with its first drug, CNF CNF Configuration (File Name Extension) CNF Conference CNF Conjunctive Normal Form CNF Could Not Find CNF Chin National Front (Burma) CNF Canadian Nature Federation CNF Cornell NanoScale Facility 1010, and is planning to begin human testing of CNF2024 later this year. "Our investors have responded enthusiastically to the progress of our product pipeline," said Lawrence C. Fritz, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Conforma. "This additional funding represents a strong vote of confidence in our approach to cancer therapy and the potential of our products. We will apply the additional capital to our expanding clinical development efforts, especially the initiation of human trials with our new totally synthetic oral HSP90 antagonist, CNF2024." Conforma's most advanced product, CNF1010, is a small molecule inhibitor of heat shock protein heat shock protein n. Any of a group of cellular proteins that are produced under conditions of heat stress and help to stabilize other cellular proteins exposed to high temperatures. 90 (HSP90). CNF1010 contains a new proprietary form of the geldanamycin derivative 17-AAG, in a novel, optimized formulation. CNF1010 is currently in Phase I clinical testing for the treatment of cancer. Conforma's second product, CNF2024, is the first totally synthetic oral HSP90 inhibitor to be nominated for clinical development. CNF2024 is expected to enter the clinic in cancer patients later this year. About Heat Shock Protein 90 (HSP90) HSP90 is a molecular chaperone chaperone /chap·er·one/ (shap´er-on) someone or something that accompanies and oversees another. molecular chaperone protein that regulates the folding and degradation of key signaling molecules signaling molecules substances synthesized by cells for purposes of extracellular communication between cells. in cells. HSP90 has emerged as an important drug target for anticancer agents because it is specifically activated in tumor cells where it controls multiple oncogenes oncogenes 1. genes carried by tumor viruses that are directly and solely responsible for the neoplastic transformation of host cells. Many oncogenes function after integration into the DNA of the host cell and some up-regulate normal downstream host cell genes to cause neoplasia. that are critical to the proliferation and survival of the tumor. As a result, HSP90-directed drugs have the potential to inhibit the growth of a wide range of cancer cells in both solid tumors and blood-based cancers. About Conforma Therapeutics Conforma Therapeutics, a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company, is focused on the design and development of novel drugs for the treatment of cancer. Conforma is developing drugs that target the cellular HSP90 family of molecular chaperones that control protein shape or conformation con·for·ma·tion n. One of the spatial arrangements of atoms in a molecule that can come about through free rotation of the atoms about a single chemical bond. , including that of key signaling molecules involved in the growth and survival of tumor cells. HSP90-directed drugs selectively induce the degradation of these cancer-promoting proteins, leading to tumor cell death. In addition to cancer, Conforma's technology also promises to have applications in other areas of medicine, including inflammation, virology virology, study of viruses and their role in disease. Many viruses, such as animal RNA viruses and viruses that infect bacteria, or bacteriophages, have become useful laboratory tools in genetic studies and in work on the cellular metabolic control of gene expression , and central nervous system disorders Nervous system disorders A satisfactory classification of diseases of the nervous system should include not only the type of reaction (congenital malformation, infection, trauma, neoplasm, vascular diseases, and degenerative, metabolic, toxic, or deficiency . Conforma is conducting Phase I clinical trials with its lead product, CNF1010, for the treatment of cancer, and is planning to enter the clinic with its second oncology product, CNF2024, in the second half of 2005. Conforma is also developing a pipeline of additional differentiated, molecularly targeted oncology products. Further information regarding Conforma is available at www.conformacorp.com. |
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