Stellanova Therapeutics Closes $15.5M Series A Financing Round

cancer

Stellanova Therapeutics, Inc., a Houston, TX-based biotechnology company advancing cancer therapies targeting the tumor microenvironment, closed a $15.5m Series A financing.

The round was led by Sporos Bioventures.

The company intends to use the funds to advance its lead antibody asset to first-in-human clinical trials for oncology, establish its discovery platform, and build its team.

Led by Rosa Hwang, M.D., co-founder, Stellanova is focused on targeting the many pro-tumorigenic effects enabled by the activity of carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (known as CAFs) in the tumor microenvironment. CAFs play essential roles in promoting cancer growth and metastasis, spurring angiogenesis, suppressing anti-tumor immunity, and fostering chemoresistance. The company’s lead antibody candidate is designed to neutralize DKK3, a factor secreted by CAFs that acts on neighboring cancer cells and immune cells to promote tumor progression and therapy resistance. In pre-clinical studies, treatment with anti-DKK3 monoclonal antibody and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy has produced sustained tumor eradication in mouse models of pancreatic cancer which is refractory to current chemo or immune therapies.

In conjunction with the Series A financing, Emmanuelle Schuler, Ph.D., MBA, has been appointed founding Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Schuler has been a member of the founding team at several companies, including JLABS @ TMC, where she spearheaded site operations and business development, and Corallis Consulting which focuses on improving therapeutic solutions in conjunction with biotech companies in United States and Europe. 

Stellanova is a resident company at JLABS @ TMC, a Johnson & Johnson biotech incubator in Houston’s Texas Medical Center.

FinSMEs

03/06/2021