and its subsidiary, Avammune Lifesciences, have raised $12 million in Series A funding from Indian venture firms. Capital 2B, Shastra VC and Kotak Lifesciences Fund I co-led the round, with IvyCap Ventures and existing investor 1Crowd joining.
The Philadelphia-based startup with origins in India is developing therapies that enhance the natural immune system to fight varied cancers and auto-immune conditions. Formerly known as Straximm Therapeutics, Avammune was spun off from Bangalore-based Aten Porus Lifesciences in 2020. Its co-founders include CEO , Srinivasan Namala and chief scientific officer Aditya Kulkarni.
Over a decade as an entrepreneur, Papaiah has co-founded Aten Porus Lifesciences, Oraxion Therapeutics and Avaliv Therapeutics. He received an MBA from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia, and a BS degree from India鈥檚 Christ University.
Using small molecule to modulate natural immunity, Avammune is hoping it can treat cancers such as osteosarcoma, Ewing鈥檚 sarcoma, breast cancer, gastrointestinal cancers and several auto-immune disorders. The company鈥檚 lead drug candidate, AVA-NP-695, is a so-called ENPP1 inhibitor that has shown 鈥渟trong anti-tumor efficacy in preclinical cancer models as well as in veterinary cancer patients under compassionate use,鈥� Avammune said.
A key target of Avammune is the so-called STING pathway, a crucial component of the innate immune system, pointed out Namala, who is an Avammune director.
鈥淭he STING pathway has gained tremendous attention in recent years for its ability to not just attack cancer on its own but also improve the efficacy of other immuno-oncology therapeutics such as checkpoint inhibitors,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his financing allows us to advance our proprietary STING modulator platform through preclinical development enabling us to expand our pipeline of treatments.鈥�
The company said it would use the new funding to accelerate its drug pipeline, focusing in particular on developing orally bioavailable small molecules. It will also clinically advance AVA-NP-695.
