$20M Series A For Karyopharm to Fight Cancer
Erin Kutz11/3/10Follow @erkutz
Karyopharm Therapeutics, a Newton, MA-based biotech focused on nuclear transport technology for applications in the treatment of cancer, autoimmune disease, and HIV, announced today that it has wrapped up a $20 million Series A financing from an an undisclosed group of investors.The startup is developing selective inhibitors of nuclear export (SINEs) designed to flag major tumor suppressor and growth regulatory proteins to kill cancer cells while sparing healthy cells.
Karyopharm was founded in 2009 by scientists linked to organizations such as Copenhagen University Hospital, Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and Epix Pharmaceuticals, a Lexington, MA-based drug developer that shut down in 2009. Karyopharm’s chief scientific officer and acting president is Sharon Shacham, who was senior vice president of drug development at Epix and oversaw the company’s work in the areas of inflammatory conditions, cardiovascular disease, and central nervous system disorders. Karyopharm said it will use the new funding, which follows about $1 million in angel investments, to select a cancer-targeting molecule as a candidate for a clinical trial.
