Tensha Therapeutics, a Cambridge, MA-based developer of small molecule bromodomain* inhibitors to treat cancer and other serious disorders, has raised $15m in Series A financing from HealthCare Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to advance the development of its bromodomain inhibitors, through clinical proof-of-concept, and advance the preclinical development of them in areas outside of oncology.
Tensha’s lead program, currently in preclinical development, is a small molecule aimed at the treatment of BRD4-NUT midline carcinoma (a rare, invariably fatal cancer), acute myeloid leukemias, multiple myeloma, and other malignancies.
The company’s programs are based on the discovery from the laboratory of its scientific founder, James Bradner, MD, at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Tensha has an exclusive license to the technology from Dana-Farber.
FinSMEs
12/09/2011
* Bromodomains are protein modules that play critical roles in “reading” epigenetic marks on chromatin that serve as instructions for the transcription of specific genes.