Plymouth, MI-based biotech company ProNAI Therapeutics announced yesterday that it has secured a $12 million Series C round. The round was led by the Wisconsin-based Capital Midwest Fund and includes new and existing investors.
ProNAi, which was formed around technology developed at Wayne State University and the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, aims to “quiet” disease using drugs that target cancer and other complex genetic diseases at the level of underlying DNA.
The funding will allow ProNAI to expand its Phase 2 clinical studies of PNT2258, a treatment made up of DNA snippets encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles that target the cancer gene BCL2 and turns it off. Preliminary data from the clinical trials indicates that, in addition to effectively interrupting cancer at the DNA level, PNT2258 has fewer side effects than conventional cancer drugs, with no hair or weight loss reported.
According to the company, this is the first of several planned financing announcements in 2014.
