Loxo Oncology, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing targeted cancer therapies for genetically-defined populations, announced today that it has closed a $24 million Series B private financing round led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). Existing investors Aisling Capital and OrbiMed Advisors LLC also participated in the round. The company also announced the appointment of Mikel Moyer, PhD, as chief scientific officer.
"The Loxo Oncology team is rapidly progressing towards our goal of bringing targeted therapies to patients with genetically defined cancers," said Josh Bilenker, MD, chief executive officer. "With the proceeds from this financing, we are now in an even stronger position to advance our lead asset LOXO-101, currently in a Phase 1 dose escalation trial, and to expand our exciting discovery pipeline."
"In just ten months since it began operations, Loxo Oncology has successfully initiated a clinical trial for the lead TRK program, made substantial progress on its discovery pipeline and assembled an outstanding management team and scientific advisory board," said Dr. M. James Barrett, General Partner, NEA. "We believe Loxo Oncology has a tremendous opportunity to contribute important targeted therapies to the field of oncology, and we are pleased to support the company's continued growth with this financing."
In conjunction with the financing, Dr. Barrett will join Loxo Oncology's board of directors. Sara Nayeem, MD, a principal at NEA, will also join the board as an observer.
Dr. Moyer was most recently the vice president of molecular discovery at Epizyme, where he led the discovery and optimization of histone methyltransferase inhibitor drug candidates, two of which are currently in clinical development (EPZ-5676 and EPZ-6438). Dr. Moyer's career in discovery and pre-clinical development has also included leadership roles at The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and at Pfizer.
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