12 Sep Volastra Therapeutics named one of Fierce Biotech’s “Fierce 15” companies of 2022
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 – Volastra Therapeutics, an oncology company focused on exploiting chromosomal instability to treat cancer, today announced it has been named as one of Fierce Biotech’s 2022 “Fierce 15,” designating it as one of the most promising early-stage biotechnology companies in the industry.
“It is an honor and tremendous validation of our team and progress to be among the Fierce 15,” said Charles Hugh-Jones, M.D., FRCP, Chief Executive Officer at Volastra. “Our unique understanding of chromosomal instability combined with our proprietary CINtech platform allows us to develop potentially life-saving therapies for patients. I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished in just the last three years, and the promise of what lies ahead.”
Michael Su, Ph.D., the company’s Chief Scientific Officer, added, “We are particularly excited about our lead program, a KIF18A inhibitor that is on track to begin a Phase 1 trial in the second half of 2023. We recently announced compelling preclinical data supporting the potential of Volastra’s KIF18A inhibitor to induce tumor regression.”
Now in its 20th Fierce 15 selection, Fierce Biotech evaluates hundreds of early-stage companies from around the world for its annual list, which celebrates the spirit of being “fierce”— championing innovation and creativity in the face of strong competition. Winners are selected based on a variety of factors, such as the strength of their scientific approach, leadership, technology, partnerships, venture backers, and scale of unmet needs they are solving for.
About Fierce Biotech
Fierce Biotech is the biotech industry’s daily monitor, an email newsletter and web resource providing the latest biotech news, articles, and resources related to clinical trials, drug discovery, FDA approval, FDA regulation, patent news, pharma news, biotech company news, and more. More than 450,000 top biopharma professionals rely on Fierce Biotech for an insider briefing on the day’s top stories. Signup is free at www.fiercebiotech.com.
About Volastra Therapeutics, Inc.
Volastra Therapeutics is a New York-based drug discovery and therapeutics company pioneering novel approaches to treating cancer by exploiting chromosomal instability (CIN), a key vulnerability of cancer. Founded by Lewis Cantley, Ph.D., Olivier Elemento, Ph.D., and Samuel Bakhoum, M.D., Ph.D., Volastra is rapidly developing and implementing new methods to exploit this vulnerability. Leveraging its proprietary CINtech platform, the company is advancing a novel synthetic lethal and immune-activating pipeline. Volastra’s lead program targets KIF18A, a mitotic kinesin, with a first-in-human study anticipated to start in 2023. Volastra recently announced a multi-year, up to $1.1 billion drug discovery collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb leveraging Volastra’s proprietary CINtech platform to identify CIN-related targets. In addition, Volastra has a partnership with Microsoft to develop AI technologies for the high-throughput interrogation of CIN.
For more information, please visit volastratx.com.
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