Linnaeus Therapeutics ("Linnaeus"), a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel, small molecule oncology therapeutics, today announced that it has closed a $12 million series B financing. Kairos Ventures, of Beverly Hills, California, led the financing with participation by the Penn Medicine Co-Investment Fund at the University of Pennsylvania.

The company intends to use the proceeds from the financing to conduct its phase 1/2 clinical trial of its lead compound, LNS8801, in patients with advanced cancer.

"We are thrilled with the progress Linnaeus has made in the twelve months since the closing of our Series A round," said Patrick Mooney, M.D., chief executive officer of Linnaeus. "With the Series B investment closed we now look forward to advancing LNS8801 into our phase 1/2 clinical studies that should commence in the coming weeks."

About Kairos Ventures
Kairos Ventures invests early, often during the formative stages of a company, and works closely with the world's leading scientists to commercialize their innovations. Depending on the stage of development and the capital requirements of each venture, Kairos make investments between $150,000 and $20 Million. While Kairos Ventures is a hands-on investor, it recognizes that it is the entrepreneurs' sweat, hard work and perseverance that will drive the growth of their companies. Kairos strives to ensure that the founding team, who make the early sacrifices in pursuit of their venture, retain the majority of the ownership in their companies. In addition to providing early-stage capital, Kairos leverages its expertise and extensive network of professionals specializing in all disciplines required to build a successful company, including legal, finance, marketing, operations, business development and HR. Kairos provides these services to early stage companies in their portfolio to allow the entrepreneurs to focus their energy on continuing to innovate and pushing the envelope in their respective fields.

About Linnaeus
Linnaeus Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel, small molecule oncology therapeutics that target a novel G protein-coupled receptor, known as GPER, or GPR30. The company was formed and launched in partnership with the UPstart incubator at the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Center for Innovation (PCI). The company's lead molecule, LNS8801, is in the final stages of preclinical development. The company expects to begin its phase 1 clinical program in the near-term. In addition to developing GPER agonists, Linnaeus is also currently focusing on developing small molecules that activate other G protein-coupled receptors to engage tumor-suppressive cellular signaling pathways.