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The start-up is developing a novel treatment that aims to be an alternative to surgical interventions in cases of TGCT, a rare type of tumour that reduces mobility.
SynOx Therapeutics, a biopharma start-up headquartered in Dublin, has secured $75m in Series B financing to trial its treatment for a chronic type of tumour that affects joints.
Tenosynovial giant cell tumour (TGCT) is a rare type of tumour that affects the soft tissue lining of joints and tendons in areas such as the knees, hip and ankles. The chronic disease can be debilitating and has a detrimental effect on mobility and quality of life.
According to SynOx, even though most patients of TGCT currently receive surgery as treatment, more than half experience a recurrence of the tumour within three years.
To solve this problem, the biopharma start-up has developed a novel treatment called emactuzumab which it claims has demonstrated “substantial clinical activity” with an objective response rate of 71pc along with “rapid and robust” tumour reduction.
SynOx said that emactuzumab also has a long duration of effect and results in “significant improvements” in functional ability. The latest funding will help the start-up initiate a phase 3 trial to assess the treatment’s efficacy and safety in patients with TGCT.
Ray Barlow, CEO of SynOx, said that the investment comes at a “transformational time” for the company. “This substantial funding will allow us to generate registrational data for emactuzumab in TGCT,” he said.
“As a highly effective, next-generation therapy with a short treatment cycle, rapid onset and long duration of response, we believe that emactuzumab is differentiated from other agents in development and will provide a much-needed and valuable option for patients suffering from this grievous disease.”
The latest investment was co-led by Forbion, HealthCap and Bioqube Ventures. As part of the round, SynOx has appointed former Sanofi Genzyme researcher Dr Carlo Incerti and pharma investor Jon Edwards to its board of directors.
“The support of our existing and new investors is validation of SynOx’s strategy and its great potential as a company,” said Ton Logtenberg, non-executive chair of SynOx, while welcoming Incerti and Edwards to the board.
“Their broad experience and knowledge, particularly in driving forward cutting-edge therapies for rare diseases, and executing deals at the highest level, complement the expertise of our existing directors and will be instrumental as we accelerate the late-stage clinical development of emactuzumab.”
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