Evelo Therapeutics, a Cambridge, MA-based newly formed company focused on leveraging microbiome to develop novel therapies for cancer, raised $35m in initial funding.
The founding investor was Flagship Ventures, a venture capital and venture creation firm focused on innovations in healthcare and sustainability
Co-founded by Dr. Noubar Afeyan, senior managing partner and CEO of Flagship Ventures, and Dr. David Berry, general partner at Flagship Ventures, and led by CEO Simba Gill, Ph.D., Evelo is advancing Oncobiotic™ therapeutics, a new modality in cancer therapy based on the cancer microbiome, which systematically identifies, characterizes and understands the biology of cancer-associated bacteria (CAB) and bacterial immune activators (BIAs™), providing new insights into cancer metabolism and immuno-oncology. The microbiome is the collection of trillions of microbes that live in and on the human body.
The company is also exploring novel Oncobiotic approaches that can leverage the ability of bacteria to uniquely activate the immune system to fight cancer.
In this respect, it is developing a new approach to immuno-oncology that goes beyond check-point inhibitors and CAR-T cell therapies.
Joining Dr. Gill, Dr. Afeyan and Dr. Berry on Evelo’s board of directors is Roger Pomerantz M.D., chairman and CEO of Seres Therapeutics.
FinSMEs
04/11/2015