VerImmune, an early-stage biotech startup developing a novel cancer therapy, has raised an additional $3.1 million from a follow-on seed financing and a partnership milestone payment. Last year, the Baltimore-born startup — now based at JLABS global science network in Washington, D.C. — had received $2.5 million in a seed round led by SeedFolio.
The follow-on financing was led by the U.S.-China venture capital fund, Proxima Ventures, a prior investor, with participation from existing investors, including Vermont’s Gaingels and San Francisco-based Mana Ventures.
Gaining Momentum
The milestone payment from Fosun Pharma USA came after VerImmunesecured a so-called “pre-IND meeting,” in which the FDA would help to set trial strategies. Typically, such meetings lead to faster therapy approvals. The company also reported significant progress on so-called CMC activities —chemistry, manufacturing, control and other activities required for marketing approvals.
“We intend to capitalize on this momentum and efficiently execute the next stages to enable the filing of an IND for VERI-101,” said VerImmune founder and CEO Joshua Wang, who earned his Ph. D. from Johns Hopkins, and additionally spent some years as an adjunct assistant professor at the Baltimore university.
VerImmune is betting on so-called Anti-tumor Immune Redirection (AIR) — tapping normal human immunity or childhood vaccine immune memory to fight cancers. Toward this, it has built a virus-inspired particle platform to leverage the natural virology of papillomaviruses.
Validation by Peers
Commercial Real Estate
MacKenzie Companies
Advertising / Media / Communications / Public Relations
Nevins & Associates
Financial Services / Investment Firms
Chesapeake Corporate Advisors
Commercial Real Estate
Monday Properties
Venture Capital
Blue Delta Capital Partners
Internet / Technology
Foxtrot Media
The platform, the company says,can help develop highly effective immuno-medicines, while ensuring low toxicity and durable benefit across a broad range of cancers. It enables “systematic and rapid optimization” of immune structures and enhances targeting. The company’s approach has been validated by a peer-reviewed study by National Cancer Institute researchers who found that reactivated cytomegalovirus T-cells could be used to target non-viral tumors.
Besides his scientific smarts, Wang has acquired significant knowledge about finance and entrepreneurship. He attended a certificate course at Harvard Business School and has a prior startup under his belt. In 2014, Wang used his doctoral research program to start PathoVax, which sought to develop a universal preventive HPV vaccine. He started VerImmune in 2020 to develop therapeutic bring similar approaches to cancer therapies.
The two-year-old biotech firm is based in Washington, D.C., after moving to Johnson & Johnson’s JLABS, located in the BioHealth Capital Region (BHCR) cluster around Maryland and Virginia.
