2 March 2021 - - US-based biopharmaceutical company FogPharma has closed a USD 107m Series C financing, the company said.

The financing was led by venBio Partners, with participation from new investors Cormorant Asset Management, Farallon Capital Management, Invus, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.; HBM Healthcare Investments, Casdin Capital, and PagsGroup.

Existing investors, including GV, 6 Dimensions Capital, Deerfield Management and Blue Pool Capital also participated in the oversubscribed round.

FogPharma's proprietary hyperstabilized α-helical peptides (Helicon peptides) are a new class of therapeutics that combine the targeting strength and specificity of antibodies with the broad tissue distribution, intracellular target engagement and oral dosing optionality of small molecules.

The company's Helicon peptide drug discovery engine integrates directed evolution, proprietary helix hyperstabilization chemistry, highly multiplexed drug optimization technology, artificial intelligence including deep learning and machine learning, structure-based drug discovery, and multiscale manufacturing to rapidly discover Helicon peptide therapeutics against important, previously intractable targets with broad applicability to virtually all disease areas.

Proceeds from the Series C financing will allow FogPharma to advance its lead, only-in-class Helicon peptides aimed at addressing substantial cancer patient populations into clinical development.

These include the company's first-and-only-in-class direct β-catenin inhibitor. Dysregulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway has been shown to occur in at least 20% of all human cancers, with the true patient population likely being higher.

FogPharma's lead antagonist has been shown to surgically disrupt the interaction of β-catenin with its downstream transcription factor, TCF, and thereby disrupt signal transmission thorough the oncogenic arm of the Wnt pathway.

It includes a first-in-class YAP/TAZ-blocker TEAD antagonist, which is the only molecule presently in development that binds the fully activated form of TEAD.

The YAP/TAZ-TEAD interface is part of the hippo pathway, where dysregulation has also been shown to occur in many cancers.

In association with the financing, Corey Goodman, Ph.D., managing partner of venBio Partners, has joined the FogPharma board of directors as chairman.

With the completion of the Series C financing, FogPharma has raised more than USD180 m from leading life science investors since its founding in 2016.

FogPharma's mission is to drastically reduce the burden of disease on patients and their families by inventing new types of drugs that squelch abnormal physiological processes in ways previously imagined but considered unattainable.

The company is in the discovery, development and commercialization of Helicon peptides, a new drug modality that uniquely combines the cell-permeability and oral dosing optionality of traditional small molecule drugs with the high specificity, broad target accessibility and rapid discovery arc of monoclonal antibody drugs.

FogPharma was spun out of Harvard University in 2016 by pioneering academic scientist, serial life science entrepreneur, venture capitalist and successful biotech company-builder Dr. Gregory Verdine. FogPharma is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., and has raised more than USD 180m to date.