Gemin X secures cancer funding

Montreal-based Gemin X Biotechnologies, has raised $65.2m in financing, consisting of $50m in private equity investment and up to $15.2m through a loan facility. The funding will support Gemin X's continued clinical development of lead product candidate GX15-070, including an ongoing Phase I/II trial in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and a Phase I trial in patients with solid tumours. The funding will also be used to advance a second oncology compound in the company's pipeline into the clinic.

'Gemin X's mission is to develop innovative cancer therapeutics that can offer more effective alternatives than existing treatments, and to achieve this mission, we've developed novel compounds that attack cancer at the heart of the apoptotic pathway," said Dan Giampuzzi, president and chief executive officer of Gemin X. 'GX15-070 is designed to selectively induce apoptosis in cancerous cells through pan-inhibition of proteins in the Bcl-2 family, the over-expression of which are associated with tumour progression and resistance to chemotherapy. Similarly, our GX14 compounds selectively induce apoptosis in cancerous cells despite mutations in the p53 pathway that often decrease the effectiveness of traditional therapies. This financing provides Gemin X with the means to fully concentrate on evaluating the potential clinical benefits of these compounds.'

The H.I.G. group of funds with the Sanderling group of funds led the financing, which included Merlin BioMed Group and Pinnacle Biotech Ventures Fund as new investors in the round. All of Gemin X's current investors also participated in the financing. In addition to the equity investment, up to $15.2m will be provided in the form of a loan through Investissement Quebec's Biolevier Program, a government initiative designed to advance the commercialisation plans of life science companies. The present financing represents the company's fourth round of funding and follows a round of $15.3m raised from venture capital investors in the summer of 2002.

'Many companies are trying to address cancer. Gemin X is one company that has been fortunate enough to have discovered small molecules which inhibit the key proteins that keep cancer cells alive,' said Dr Robert McNeil, general partner of Sanderling Ventures and chairman of the Gemin X board of directors. 'Inhibiting survival and thus driving cancer into its natural cell death pathway is a central goal of cancer research. Sanderling is proud to have the opportunity to work with such innovative research and commercialisation prospects.'

As a result of the financing, Aaron Davidson, a general partner with the H.I.G. group of funds, has joined the Gemin X board of directors.

'Gemin X represents an excellent investment prospect for us. Through rigour in pharmacological profiling and thorough analysis of the preclinical candidates, the company has discovered compounds that address two important mechanisms in solving the cancer problem. Gemin X has assembled all of the necessary pieces to successfully develop these into highly innovative cancer therapeutics,' said Davidson. 'In addition, the management talent and the team they have recruited are among the best to leverage these capabilities.'

Apoptosis

Apoptosis is the natural process through which the body eliminates diseased or damaged cells. Apoptosis is frequently suppressed in cancer cells by factors such as upregulation of Bcl-2 proteins, which are implicated in up to one-third of all new cancer incidences each year, including cancers of the lymph, breast, lung, prostate and colon. Other defects such as loss of p53 tumour suppressor function are also key contributors to malignancy and resistance to chemotherapy.