BioWorld International Correspondent

Danish firm Cureon A/S, which is developing therapeutic applications of an antisense technology based on DNA analogue chemistry, raised DKK34 million (US$4.5 million) from a consortium of Scandinavian investors, boosting its total funding to DKK112 million.

The company did not disclose the post-money valuation following the round, but Henrik Orum, chief scientific officer and director of business development, told BioWorld International: "It is a very nice valuation, considering the market conditions, and we're very satisfied with it. We take it as an indicator that the venture capital community values antisense as an upcoming realistic therapeutic platform."

Copenhagen-based Cureon was spun out of Vedbaek-based Exiqon A/S in late 1999 to develop therapeutic applications of Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA), a DNA analogue technology developed at the University of Copenhagen. LNA differs from standard nucleosides by having a methylene linker that connects the 2'-O position to the 4'-C position, restricting the usual conformational freedom of the furanose ring in the molecules. Cureon said it offers superior affinity, specificity and biostability compared to native DNA and other analogues.

Cureon focuses on cancer, particularly on the processes of angiogenesis and apoptosis. It is collaborating with the University of Copenhagen on the development of a drug candidate that will down-regulate expression of the Hif-1 alpha gene, which promotes vascularization in tumors in conditions of low oxygen tension. It also has a collaboration with the Danish National University Hospital focused on allergy and asthma.

The company works with known validated targets to mitigate the technology risk associated with LNA. Since its establishment, the company has concentrated on optimizing parameters such as dosing, pharmacokinetics, physical characteristics and the design of LNA oligomers.

Orum said he expects the company's first drug candidate to reach the clinic by late next year. Cureon's approach is based on developing hybrid oligonucleotides that contain LNA residues but are not wholly comprised of them. Orum said incorporating LNA residues at appropriate positions might shorten the required length of antisense therapeutics from their current length of around 20 to 25 residues to just 15 or 16 residues. That would have positive impacts in terms of both production costs and drug delivery, he said.

The new injection of cash will fund the company's activities well into next year, Orum said. The participants in the round included InnovationsKapital, of Gothenburg, Sweden; BioFund Management Ltd., of Helsinki, Finland; Teknoinvest Management AS, of Oslo, Norway; the Danish National Pensions Fund Lonmodtagernes Dyrtidsfond, of Copenhagen; and Bagsvaerd-based Novo A/S, the investment arm of the Nordisk Foundation, of Gentofte, Denmark.

Exiqon remains Cureon's largest shareholder with more than 40 percent of its equity.