Storm Therapeutics secures £12 million in series A funding

^{_{Professors Eric Miska (left) and Tony Kouzarides}}

Storm Therapeutics has secured £12 million in series A funding to identify small molecular drugs that target RNA-modifying enzymes.

The funding round was led by Imperial Innovations, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Merck Ventures and Pfizer Venture Investments.

Storm Therapeutics, a spin-out company from the University of Cambridge’s Gurdon Institute, is based upon the ground-breaking work of its founders, Professor Tony Kouzarides and Professor Eric Miska, in the field of RNA epigenetics. 

There are several large families of RNA-modifying enzymes which catalyse a diverse range of epigenetic modifications of RNA, changing RNA activity and thereby key processes within the cell. There is a growing understanding of the importance of RNA modification in the development of cancer, opening up novel therapeutic targets in cancer treatment. Professors Kouzarides and Miska and their research groups have identified certain of these RNA-modifying enzymes against which Storm Therapeutics intends to develop potential therapeutics. The company will use the proceeds of the funding to identify small molecule modulators of these novel targets in RNA modification pathways and develop them into new classes of anti-cancer treatments. 

Modifying gene expression at a cellular level

Professors Tony Kouzarides and Eric Miska, co-founders of Storm Therapeutics, commented on their working and the funding: “The work that our research groups are undertaking on non-coding RNA and the enzymes that modify this RNA is giving us incredibly interesting insights into how gene expression can be modified at a cellular level.  The funding and support that Storm Therapeutics has received from its investors will allow the development of these insights into a new class of therapeutics ready to be taken into clinical trials.”

Dr Robert Tansley of Cambridge Innovation Capital said: “Storm Therapeutics’ insights into epigenetics provide the potential to open up a range of therapeutic targets to treat cancer.”