Cabrellis Pharmaceuticals Raises $27.5 Million in Series A Funding

Cabrellis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a specialty pharmaceutical company developing therapies for the treatment of cancer, recently announced it closed a $27.5 million Series A financing. Major participating investors included Domain Associates, Forward Ventures, Lilly Ventures, Novo A/S, ProQuest Investments, RBC Capital Partners, RiverVest Venture Partners, and S.R. One, Limited. The funding will be used to advance the clinical development of Calsed(TM), the Company’s third-generation anthracycline currently in Phase II clinical testing. Cabrellis was formed in May 2006 as a spinout from Conforma Therapeutics and founded by members of the Conforma management team that executed the sale of Conforma to Biogen Idec, Inc.

“We are pleased to have the support of a strong group of investors,” said Thomas M. Estok, president and chief executive officer of Cabrellis. “This financing demonstrates the confidence and excitement of our investors in the promise and market potential of Calsed(TM) and the capabilities of our team. With this funding, we plan to accelerate and expand the clinical development of this important cancer treatment.”

Cabrellis plans to initiate three separate clinical trials in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in 2006. The first trial, designed to assess the safety and efficacy of Calsed(TM) in reference to topotecan in the second-line treatment of patients with SCLC who previously responded to platinum-based chemotherapy, is currently underway at multiple clinical trial sites in the United States. Additional Phase II clinical trials are planned to assess Calsed(TM) in chemotherapeutic naive patients and in patients who were refractory to earlier platinum-based chemotherapy. Cabrellis is also planning trials outside of SCLC to evaluate the potential utility of Calsed(TM) in other tumor types.