Avelas Biosciences, an in vivo cancer diagnostic company dedicated to improving oncologic surgeries, announced today that it has closed on the second tranche of its Series B financing bringing the total funds raised in the round to $7.4 million. The funds will be used to support ongoing development of the Avelas Cancer Illuminator (ACI) candidate, AVB-620, through a first-in-human study in breast cancer surgery patients. Participants in the financing included founding investor, Avalon Ventures, as well as existing investors Torrey Pines Investment, WuXi PharmaTech Investments, and additional unnamed investors.
'This series B financing reflects the commitment and enthusiasm of our investors and the promise of Avelas' technology,' said Carmine Stengone, president and CEO of Avelas Biosciences. 'Avelas has made great progress in the advancement of AVB-620 and the near-term initiation of our first clinical study will be an important milestone.'
AVB-620, a fluorescent peptide conjugate, has the potential to deliver a real-time intraoperative cancer diagnosis in the form of a luminous map, providing surgeons with enough information to make decisions about tumor and metastatic lymph node excisions during the first surgery as opposed to waiting for the results of limited pathology reports. In preclinical testing, the in vivo accuracy of AVB-620 is >95 percent.
The ACI technology, pioneered by Nobel Prize winning scientist Roger Y. Tsien, Ph.D., utilizes the increased activity of enzymes called proteases that occur in tumors and metastases. The fluorescent peptide illuminates in the presence of pathological protease activity, thereby marking the cancerous tissue. When used in conjunction with a fluorescence imaging camera system during surgery, a color-coded image showing cancerous tissue is superimposed onto the normal surgical view, providing the surgeon a map of the cancer location.
About Avelas Biosciences
Avelas Biosciences is a San Diego-based biotechnology company focused on developing fluorescent technologies that advance a new standard-of-care for cancer surgery. Its lead candidate, AVB-620, is expected to enter clinical studies in 2014. Avelas was founded by Avalon Ventures on technology from Nobel Prize winner Roger Y. Tsien, Ph.D. For additional information, please visit www.avelasbio.com.