Diakonos Oncology Corp., a Houston, TX-based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a new generation of immunotherapies to treat challenging and aggressive cancers, closed a $20m private placement of Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFE).
The financing included backing by new investors Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), the Brain Tumor Investment Fund (BTIF), and the Buttonwood Titan QC Fund, with additional participation from existing shareholders including CEO Mike Wicks, MS. BCM is also contributing in-kind services toward the company’s pre-clinical and clinical development programs.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its Phase 2 glioblastoma trial for dubodencel, also known as DOC1021, and expand its clinical portfolio to other indications, including refractory melanoma. This $20m financing follows an $11.4m seed financing that closed last year and serves as a bridge to a Series A financing that the company plans to launch in the second half of this year.
Led by Mike Wicks, CEO, and Jay Hartenbach, President and Chief Operating Officer, Diakonos Oncology is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to advancing cancer immunotherapy with its proprietary double-loaded, patient-derived dendritic cell therapeutic platform focused on addressing the critical, unmet medical need for treatment of late-state and aggressive cancers.
Dubodencel, also known as DOC1021, is a first-in-class, double-loaded autologous dendritic cell therapy that combines tumor lysate and amplified tumor-derived mRNA. The immunotherapy is made with a patient’s dendritic cells combined with mRNA and proteins prepared from freshly obtained patient tumor specimens.
FinSMEs
01/06/2025