Stelexis Therapeutics closes $43 million Series A financing

New York-based cancer therapeutics company, Stelexis Therapeutics has closed a $43 million Series A financing to expand its proprietary platform to discover and selectively target pre-cancerous stem cells. 

Deerfieldestablished Stelexis in 2017 together with scientific founders, Ulrich Steidl, Evripidis Gavathiotis, Amit Verma, and Roman Perez-Soler of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Health, New York and Derrick Rossi of Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Patrick Doyle serves as the founding CEO, and Keren Paz is the CSO of Stelexis.

Stelexis’ proprietary drug discovery platform identifies the earliest definable pre-cancerous stem and progenitor cells that lead to the formation of human primary and recurrent tumors for therapeutic intervention and relapse prevention.  Stelexis’ mission is to develop novel cancer drugs that selectively target these critical pre-cancerous events related to both hematopoietic and solid malignancies.

Stelexis’ proprietary drug discovery platform identifies the earliest definable pre-cancerous stem and progenitor cells that lead to the formation of human primary and recurrent tumors for therapeutic intervention and relapse prevention.  Stelexis’ mission is to develop novel cancer drugs that selectively target these critical pre-cancerous events related to both hematopoietic and solid malignancies.

“The ability to identify, isolate, study and screen rare pre-cancerous stem cells, from within bulk tumors, is an enormous breakthrough that has the potential to change how cancer patients are treated,” stated Dr. Steidl.  “Our thesis is that targeting cancer at its very origin should not only be effective as first line therapy, but should also lead to long-lasting remission for patients,” said Dr. Rossi, who, prior to co-founding Stelexis, has also co-founded numerous other successful biotechnology companies.

Utilizing Deerfield seed funding and operational support since 2017, Stelexis has established its labs in Albert Einstein College of Medicine facilities, hired key management and is poised to deliver clinical trial data that validate its platform using the proceeds of this Series A round.

“We are thrilled to announce the formation and funding of Stelexis, which has the platform technology to explore the role pre-cancer conditions play in cancer development and recurrence.  The team has an outstanding track record and we look forward to a stream of transformative cancer medicines,” stated Dr. Robert Jackson, director at Stelexis and partner at Deerfield Management.

“Deerfield’s holistic approach to forming, funding and providing operational support to Stelexis has been instrumental in creating a leadership position in a novel targeted approach to treating cancer,” said Patrick Doyle, CEO of Stelexis. “With these funds we are now positioned to execute on our potential to transform patients’ lives.”