CHARM Therapeutics, the Company, announces closing of an oversubscribed Series B funding round, raising £60m to advance its next generation cancer drug into clinical development. The financing was supported by both existing and new global investors, reflecting confidence in the Company’s approach to overcoming resistance seen in first-generation therapies.
The funding round was co-led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and SR One, with participation from existing investors OrbiMed, F-Prime, Khosla Ventures and NVIDIA.
Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is an aggressive blood cancer with poor prognosis. First-generation treatments are limited by the rapid emergence of resistance mutations, safety risks, and poor pharmaceutical properties.
CHARM Therapeutics is developing a new generation of drugs designed to overcome these limitations. Using its proprietary DragonFold platform, CHARM has identified a candidate that remains effective against all known resistance mutations, shows strong tumour regression in preclinical models, and is predicted to work at low doses without additional safety risks.
The Company has also strengthened its board with new non-executive directors Briggs Morrison, M.D. and Kim Blackwell, M.D., alongside investor representatives Matthew McAviney, M.D. of NEA and Mahesh Kudari, M.D. of SR One.
Securing funding from such a high-quality investor syndicate is a strong validation of our approach to overcoming menin inhibitor resistance. Current menin inhibitors show promise in AML treatment but are fundamentally limited by the rapid emergence of resistance mutations that cause treatment failure. Our next-generation inhibitors, discovered using our proprietary DragonFold AI platform, are specifically designed to overcome these resistance mutations and deliver the durable responses that patients need. This programme represents a significant opportunity to transform outcomes for patients, and we look forward to initiating clinical development early next year.
Gary D. Glick, Executive Chair
We are thrilled to support CHARM as it transitions into the clinic with its highly promising next-generation menin inhibitor. The strength of the preclinical data and the clarity of the clinical development plan make CHARM well positioned to drive meaningful impact for patients facing treatment-resistant cancers. We’re proud to support CHARM during this next phase of growth.
Matthew McAviney, Partner at New Enterprise Associates
CHARM has leveraged its proprietary protein-ligand co-folding platform DragonFold to rapidly identify highly potent, next-generation menin inhibitors that are active against resistant mutations. We are excited to support progression of this programme into clinical trials and look forward to working with the team.
Mahesh Kudari, Investor at SR One
