Germantown, Md.-based Deka Biosciences, which is developing therapies to treat cancer and inflammatory diseases, has raised $30 million from undisclosed investors, according to a Friday listing on Crunchbase.
In September, the company closed on $20 million in a Series B2 round led by Boston-based MPM BioImpact, a specialist life sciences investor. Other backers in that round included Leaps by Bayer, Lumira Ventures (Boston), O-Bio (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Viva BioInnovator (Shanghai), Alexandria Venture Investments (Pasadena, Calif.), Amana Investments (Bellingham, Wash.), Plains Ventures (Oklahoma City, Okla.), ATEM Capital (New York) and founder-CEO John Mumm. So far, the company has raised $91.4 million.
Focus on Cytokines
Deka has developed a platform, dubbed Diakine, which focuses on naturally occurring small proteins called cytokines that control inflammations. Its therapy uses cytokines to safely stimulate the immune system, based on each individual’s immune response, and naturally destroy cancer cells.
“It’s a harmony of the music, in our case, it’s the cytokines… that are telling the dancers, the cells, what to do, where to go and how to do their job,” Mumm, who has a Ph.D. in cancer biology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, once told BioBuzz.
By developing several assays, Deka determines who will best benefit from each Diakine. Diakines fuse multiple cytokines, such as IL-10 and IL-2. Deka also builds therapies for inflammatory diseases, such as Crohn’s, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and sepsis.
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Precision Medicine
“We share the vision to fundamentally change the nature of drug development and change the standard of healthcare through coupling our platform technology with predictive precision medicine,” Mumm said in a release after a Series A round in 2021.
Mumm, a 30-year drug industry veteran, has primarily focused his research on the interface between cancer biology and the adaptive immune response. He has held various leadership roles at Schering-Plough, Merck, ARMO BioSciences and MedImmune/AstraZeneca, among others. He is also the founder of Jera Bio.
“Deka’s unique vision of rationally combining multiple cytokines in a single therapeutic, and the potential impact this could have for patients suffering from cancer and autoimmunity, was deeply intriguing to the MPM BioImpact team” said Dr. Detlev Biniszkiewicz, managing director at the Boston venture firm.
