Avrobio, a Cambridge, MA and Toronto, ON-based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing transformative cell and gene therapies targeting cancer and rare diseases, raised a seed funding of undisclosed amount.
Atlas Venture of Cambridge, MA, made the investment.
today announced its launch plans.
The company will use the funds to accelerate development of two novel cell and gene therapies pioneered within the labs of Dr. Christopher Paige and Dr. Jeffrey Medin (now at the Medical College of Wisconsin) at the University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto, ON. Phase 1 programs will be in the clinic by early to mid-2016 in both acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and Fabry disease. The company will simultaneously work to expand its proprietary cell and gene therapy platform to treat additional indications.
Led by Geoff MacKay, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Kim Warren, Head of Operations, Dr. Chris Mason, Chief Science Officer, and Deanna Petersen, Chief Business Officer, Avrobio is initially advancing two programs:
– AVR-01, which is designed to be a potent anti-cancer immunotherapy which triggers the immune system to first detect, and then eradicate, tumor cells, and
– AVR-02, which is designed to deliver lasting benefits for Fabry disease patients.
In conjunction with the funding, Bruce Booth, Partner at Atlas Venture, joined Avrobio’s Board of Directors.
FinSMEs
18/02/2016