Pyxis Oncology Raises $ 22 Million in Series A Financing

Pyxis Oncology, a newly formed Boston-based immuno-oncology company, raised $ 22 million in Series A funding.

Bayer joined the group, joined by other institutional and strategic investors including Agent Capital, Ipsen and Longwood Fund.
Leaps by Bayer will actively participate in the investment in Pyxis through two representatives on the company's Board of Directors, Dr. Lucio Iannone and Dr. Jak Knowles. In addition, Dr. Vemuri of Agent Capital also joined the Board in connection with the funding. The board of directors will be chaired by John Flavin and David Steinberg, partner of the Longwood Fund, will badume the duties of chief executive officer of Pyxis.

Founded by Thomas Gajewski, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Pathology and the Ben May Cancer Institute at the University of Chicago Medicine; Longwood Fund; and John Flavin, a leader and experienced life sciences entrepreneur; Pyxis Oncology is an immuno-oncology company specializing in the development of new therapies for patients who are fighting difficult-to-treat cancers with the support of the Polsky Center for Innovation and the Spirit of Mind. Company of the University of Chicago.

Building on Dr. Gajewski's research, Pyxis is looking for promising new targets derived from the latest knowledge of the tumor microenvironment.

The company has generated preclinical data on these targets and is developing a portfolio of new antibodies that can help new patient populations that are not currently being treated with current immunotherapies.

The Pyxis SAB will be chaired by Dr. Gajewski and will include:
– Michael B. Atkins, MD, Deputy Director of the Georgetown-Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and Professor Scholl and Vice-Chair of the Department of Oncology of Georgetown University's School of Medicine.
– Lisa H. Butterfield, PhD, Vice President of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and Adjunct Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California at San Francisco.
– Alan Korman, PhD, Senior Vice President of Human Immunology at Vir Biotechnology and former Vice President of Immuno-Oncology Discovery at Bristol-Myers Squibb.
– Jason Luke, MD, FACP, badociate professor of medicine and director of the Cancer Immunotherapeutics Center at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine.

FinSMEs

07/18/2019