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According to foreign media reports, Black Diamond Therapeutics in the United States has raised $ 85 million in Series C financing, led by Boxer Capital, Wellington Management Company, BVF Parters LP, Deerfield Management, Janus Henderson investor-managed funds, Casdin Capital and Logos Capital participates.
Black Diamond Therapeutics is a precision cancer drug developer based in the United States and co-founded by Dr David M. Epstein and Dr Elizabeth Buck. Black Diamond Therapeutics has made a significant contribution in the field of precision oncology, with being the first to discover small molecule therapies that have nothing to do with tumor types.
The C round of financing will be used to support the company’s development and promote the development of Black Diamond’s main candidate products. These candidate products target the oncogenic driver mutations of ErbB kinase in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). The company plans to conduct a joint phase 1/2 clinical trial of the drug candidate BDTX-189 in the first half of 2020. The financing will also be used to support the company’s continued expansion of the Mutation-Allostery-Pharmacology (MAP) platform.
Boxer Capital CEO Aaron Davis said that Black Diamond’s MAP platform could revolutionize the way new tumor treatments are developed, especially for cancers that are difficult to treat.
Black Dimond’s MAP platform
From 2017, Black Dimond and Versant Ventures have jointly built the MAP platform and chemical discovery engine. The MAP platform has developed a proprietary method to discover, reveal and target oncogenes of allosteric mutants.
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Mutation
Black Diamond uses the MAP platform to mine mutations at allosteric sites that generate potential oncogenes. The MAP platform integrates multiple forms of genomic-level data and has an in-depth understanding of the mechanism, structure, and dynamics.
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Modification
Black Diamond provides insight into how allosteric mutations drive oncogene activation through the MAP platform. By mapping mutated oncogenes to regulatory domains and regions involving the protein-protein interface, allosteric activated oncogenes can be identified.
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Protein Pharmacology
Black Diamond uses this unique pharmacology to design drugs that are effective and selective for allosteric mutant oncogenes. Screening in proprietary models of cancer can validate allosteric oncogenes.
MAP platform
Black Diamond also announced that Dr. Smarth Kulkarni, CEO of CRISPR Therapeutics, has joined the board. Epstein said that he is pleased that Kulkarni has joined the board of directors. His rich experience and advanced innovative medical technology can help Black Diamond continue to improve its product portfolio and design clinical plans.
