The funding will be funnelled into an unnamed p53 suppressor-focused oncology Weizmann spinout and ultrasound guidance device maker On-Sight Medical.
Two Israel-based health spinouts of Weizmann Institute of Science have collectively secured $12m in funding from biomedicine developer BioLeaders and VC firm Yozma Group Asia.
The capital includes $10m supplied by BioLeaders, itself backed by Yozma, for a new, as-yet unnamed Weizmann Institute-founded oncology spinout. The investment is anticipated to close in the coming months.
The spinout will focus on exploiting a peptide capable of binding to a tumour suppressor protein called p53.
Dubbed the “guardian” of the human genome, malfunctions in the p53 gene have been linked to the progression of cancer in approximately two-thirds of cases. The capital injection will help establish the business and enable it to hire staff at its headquarters in Kiryat Weizmann Science Park, which is situated close to the institute.
Weizmann’s spinout is based on research by Varda Rotter and Moshe Oren, two professors from the institute’s molecular cell…
