CTI Life Sciences Fund

Exciting news from CTI Life Sciences Fund's portfolio company, Epitopea! We are thrilled to announce the closing of Epitopea's $31M USD pre-Series A financing, bringing the company's total capital to over $45M USD. Three new investors, Investissement Québec, adMare BioInnovations, and Meltwind Advisory LLP, joined existing investors (CTI Life Sciences Fund, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Advent Life Sciences) in this latest financing round. Congratulations to Alan Rigby, Jon Moore, and Steven Klein on this accomplishment! Epitopea is revolutionizing cancer treatment. The company is exploiting its proprietary CryptoMapTM platform to identify novel targets that can serve as the basis of different cancer immunotherapies. Epitopea's lead program will be a first-in-class off-the-shelf RNA cancer vaccine that could transform patients' lives. As a founding investor, CTI Life Sciences Fund is proud of the company's significant strides since spinning out the technology from the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer of the Université de Montréal . We sincerely look forward to sharing more great news as the company enters its next growth phase. Read the Press Release: [ENG] https://lnkd.in/etU9YDA8 [FR] https://lnkd.in/e9xx6ytY

CTI Life Sciences Fund is excited to share that Find Therapeutics is officially a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company! CTI Life Sciences Fund has supported Find Therapeutics since its inception in 2020 and the preclinical development of its promising lead compound FTX-101, a first-in-class remyelinating agent. We are proud that FTX-101 has now begun its journey towards demonstrating safety and efficacy as a highly novel therapeutic for autoimmune disorders.

Today is Sweet Pharma Day 🍁🍁 CTI Life Sciences Fund is pleased to be in attendance to hear from the Sweet 16 companies.

Exciting News from CTI Life Sciences Fund's portfolio company, Find Therapeutics! Find Therapeutics Announces the Closing of a $8.1M USD Convertible Note Financing with Investissement Québec with participation from current investors, CTI Life Sciences Fund and adMare BioInnovations. The proceeds of the convertible note will be used to advance the company's lead asset, FTX-101, into Phase 1 clinical studies. FTX-101 holds the potential to meaningfully improve patients' lives by addressing unmet needs in the field, and with Investissement Québec joining us on this journey, we are even more optimistic about the road ahead. FTX-101, is a first-in-class remyelinating agent that aims to restore vision in people suffering from Chronic Optic Neuropathy (CON). FTX-101 is a rationally designed therapeutic peptide that targets Plexin A1 and Neuropilin 1, a receptor complex in the brain involved in the migration and differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells into myelinating oligodendrocytes. Compelling preclinical data for FTX-101 in demyelinating models show strong myelin repair activity. https://lnkd.in/gsdG5T5i

CTI Life Sciences Fund congratulates Fund II portfolio company, Find Therapeutics, on securing $8.1M in convertible note financing! This round was led by new investor Investissement Québec with continued support from CTI Life Sciences Fund and adMare BioInnovations. This financing will accelerate the clinical development of their first-in-class re-myelinating drug candidate, FTX-101 - a major step forward in addressing unmet medical needs in neurodegenerative diseases. We are proud to be part of this journey toward transformative therapies.

Exciting news from CTI Life Sciences Fund portfolio company, AbilityPharma! AbilityPharma announced a positive Phase I/II trial from its lead asset, IBRILATAZAR (ABTL0812), in patients with advanced/recurrent endometrial cancer, published in BMC Cancer. The combination of IBRILATAZAR plus chemotherapy demonstrated an ORR of 65.8%, a PFS of 9.8 months, and an OS of 23.6 months. This data suggests that IBRILATAZAR increases chemotherapy effectiveness by 40%, whereas the reference historical controls where ORR, PFS, and OS were 51%, 7.1 months, and 20.4 months, respectively. CTI Life Sciences Fund is excited about these results. They highlight IBRILATAZAR's innovative mechanism of action. IBRILATAZAR induces ER stress that leads to protective autophagy in healthy cells and cytotoxic autophagy in cancer cells, making it synergistic with chemotherapy. This synergy is further validated in Pancreatic Cancer, where the latest blinded data showed a >50% improvement over historical controls. Please see the press release below: https://lnkd.in/dAiiaiM3

CTI Life Sciences Fund is excited to share that Fund II portfolio company, Find Therapeutics, has received FDA clearance to advance its re-myelinating drug candidate, FTX-101, into clinic.

CTI Life Sciences Fund is thrilled to welcome Dr. Alan Rigby as the new CEO of Epitopea, a CTI portfolio company! With a distinguished track record in biotech leadership and a profound commitment to advancing innovative cancer therapies, Dr. Rigby is poised to drive Epitopea's mission forward. We look forward to witnessing the impactful strides Epitopea will make under his guidance. Join us in congratulating Dr. Rigby and Epitopea on this exciting new chapter! https://lnkd.in/ecG6n3N3

Please join CTI Life Sciences Fund in welcoming Ron Cooper as the CEO of enGene, a CTI portfolio company. We are excited to have Mr. Cooper leading enGene as the company prepares for its next stage of growth. enGene is currently studying EG-70, a best-in-class non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) treatment, in an ongoing multi-cohort Phase 2 study (LEGEND). Mr. Cooper most recently served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Albireo Pharma, a fully integrated global commercial biopharmaceutical company that Ipsen acquired in 2023. While at Albireo Pharma, Mr. Cooper took the company public, created a new corporate strategy, and guided Bylvay® to the market. Earlier in his career, he spent nearly 30 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) in roles of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing, and general management, most recently serving as President of Europe. While at BMS, he played a leadership role in numerous successful product launches. https://lnkd.in/gumXGCF7

Exciting news for CTI Life Sciences Fund! AstraZeneca has successfully closed the acquisition of Amolyt Pharma, a CTI portfolio company. Under the terms of the definitive agreement, AstraZeneca has acquired all of Amolyt Pharma’s outstanding shares for a total consideration of up to $1.05 billion on a cash and debt-free basis, including a $800 million upfront at deal closing. CTI Life Sciences Fund is honored to be part of this exciting journey with Amolyt Pharma and our co-investors (Sofinnova Partners, Intermediate Capital Group (ICG), and abrdn (previously Tekla)). We are also delighted that we contributed to the advancement of eneboparatide (AZP-3601), a potential best-in-class treatment for hypoparathyroidism. https://lnkd.in/eRr-9_Kq