Flindr Therapeutics has secured €20 million ($21 million) in a Series A raise aimed at advancing its lead program through an IND application and growing its pipeline of small-molecule cancer drugs.
The Dutch biotech’s lead drug candidate inhibits RNF31, a protein-stabilizing E3 ubiquitin ligase. The mechanism had “highly promising activity” in preclinical ovarian cancer and B cell lymphoma models, Flindr said, adding it has identified biomarkers that could help identify patients most likely to respond.
RNF31 is responsible for Met1-linked ubiquitination, a process that regulates survival signaling in tumor cells, Flindr CEO Maarten Ligtenberg told Endpoints News in an interview. “There are plenty of tumors that have gain-of-function mutations in RNF1,” and others where the enzyme is upregulated or overexpressed, he added.
The Series A financing was led by V-Bio Ventures with support from new backers Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JJDC), QBIC Fund, Flanders Future Tech Fund and Curie Capital. Existing investors Oncode Oncology Bridge Fund, Swanbridge and Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij also took part in the raise, according to a company release.
Ligtenberg declined to disclose the length of runway provided by the fundraise.
Flindr will also expand its pipeline using its ImmunoGram drug discovery engine, which evolved from research conducted at the Netherlands Cancer Institute and the Oncode Institute. The engine “allows us to set up biological models in the lab that are a reverse translation of what’s happening in patients,” Ligtenberg said. These models are then used to screen for new targets.
Founded in 2020, Netherlands-based Flindr joined forces with Belgium’s Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie last year to leverage its expertise in immunology. The biotech’s growth plans include establishing a wet lab in the Flanders region of Belgium, the CEO said.