Flindr Therapeutics, a precision oncology therapeutics company, announced a €20 million Series A funding to advance its pipeline of small molecule inhibitors for cancer treatment. V-Bio Ventures led the funding along with other new investors Johnson & Johnson Innovation — JJDC, Inc. (JJDC), QBIC Fund, Flanders Future Tech Fund, and Curie Capital, as well as existing investors Oncode Oncology Bridge Fund, Swanbridge and Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij (BOM).
Flindr utilizes its expertise in translational biology, cancer target identification, immuno-oncology, and drug development for small molecule oncology. And the team has a successful track record in identifying and developing covalent small molecule inhibitors from discovery to market approval.
The company utilizes the ImmunoGram Drug Discovery Engine – which has evolved from seminal work in the laboratories of the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) and the Oncode Institute. And this approach involves reverse-translating the heterogeneity in tumor-specific and host-specific factors, as seen in patients in the clinic, into lab-based biological models to screen for and select the most important drug targets involved in patient clinical response.
Flindr’s lead program is a first-in-class small molecule inhibitor of RNF31 (known as HOIP), a protein-stabilizing E3 ubiquitin ligase – which is aberrantly activated in solid and hematological malignancies. The company has already obtained highly promising activity for the drug candidate in preclinical ovarian cancer and B-cell lymphoma models and identified biomarkers that will help select patients most likely to respond to treatment with RNF31 inhibitors.
This funding round will progress its lead program to IND, develop an exciting second program, and broaden its pipeline using the ImmunoGram Drug Discovery Engine.
Flindr Therapeutics was launched in 2020, with Maarten Ligtenberg as the founding CEO, and initial seed financing from BOM, Oncode Oncology Bridge Fund, Swanbridge Capital and Innovatiefonds Noord Holland. Last year, Flindr joined forces with VIB, Flanders’ leading life sciences research institute, and the lab of Professor Rudi Beyaert (of the VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation Research), to utilizetheir deep expertise of immunology – including RNF31 biology – and development of animal cancer models. Their work with Flindr in these areas will validate RNF31 as a target and enable the company to make safety predictions.
Following the funding, the Flindr Supervisory Board of Directors will include Christina Takke, V-Bio Ventures, Chris De Jonghe, Oncode Institute, Tine Bekaert, Flanders Future Tech Fund, Cedric van Nevel, QBIC Fund and Allard Kaptein, CEO of Genase Therapeutics and Chief Strategy Officer of IMMIOS, as well as a representative of JJDC.
KEY QUOTES:
“This EUR20 million Series A financing will help us translate our precision targets into precision therapies, with the ultimate goal of potentially transforming the lives of patients with cancer. The backing of this highly regarded investor syndicate is a strong validation of our unique approach and the potential of our pipeline.”
- Maarten Ligtenberg, PhD, Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Flindr
“We strongly believe that a complementary team is crucial for any success. The Flindr team combines well-established identification expertise from the NKI with world class biological insights from VIB, and its deep experience and successful track record in the identification and development of covalent small molecules inhibitors.”
- Christina Takke, Managing Partner at V-Bio Ventures
