Cambridge start-up PhoreMost raises £33m to progress PLK1 programme

Cambridge, UK-based PhoreMost has announced the closing of a £33m Series B investment round from new and existing investors.

The completed financing round was led by UK growth economy investor BGF as well as new investors XtalPi Inc., Astellas Venture Management, Trend Investment Group and o2h ventures.

Additional contributions were made by existing investors Parkwalk Advisors, Morningside Ventures and Jonathan Milner.

PhoreMost will use the financing to progress its PLK1 programme, which is initially targeted for the treatment of brain cancer, into the clinic within 18 months.

The biopharma company will also advance multiple additional internal drug discovery programmes in oncology and ageing therapeutic indications.

PhoreMost platform – SITESEEKER – is designed to identify new therapeutic targets for any disease setting, and identify how to develop novel drugs against these targets.

In a statement, the company said it had recently used the platform to identify novel E3-ligands, which could have the potential to be ‘highly disruptive’ in the targeted protein degradation therapeutic modality space.

"We are thrilled to include this exceptional group of investors in PhoreMost’s Series B funding round. PhoreMost is at an incredibly exciting phase of development, having made tremendous progress since the Series A funding,” said Chris Torrance, chief executive officer of PhoreMost.

“Our lead ‘Allosteric PLK1’ asset is well positioned for clinical entry and our SITESEEKER platform has made valuable discoveries within the targeted protein degradation, oncology and ageing fields. This funding now positions PhoreMost well to prosecute asset development across these high value therapeutic areas,” he added.