Orum Moves To Cambridge Discovery Park, Looking To Expand Team
As our research efforts continue to expand in Cambridge, we are moving from our incubator to a space of our own in Cambridge Discovery Park. We are excited to have the additional lab and office space as we are adding new team members and further building out our research facilities in Cambridge to advance our platform technology.
Orum’s international team is dedicated to advancing antibodies for targeted protein degradation to treat cancer. Using Orum’s antibody and conjugation platform, our scientists discover antibodies that bind cell-specific receptors and deliver the cargoes intracellularly to degrade disease-causing proteins. The platform technology is adaptable to target different cell types and intracellular proteins.
As we settle into our new space, we continue to look for outstanding researchers to be based in our Cambridge labs. Currently, we have several positions open (www.orumrx.com/careers) for candidates who are passionate about new drug discovery. If you have experience in cancer biology, E3 ligase biology, pharmacology, or therapeutic antibody development, please send your resume and cover letter to jobs@orumrx.com to apply.
Orum Therapeutics Announces $30 Million Series B Financing
Financing proceeds to fund further platform development and therapeutic discovery in cancer and rare diseases, and expansion of Orum’s new Boston R&D labs
BOSTON and DAEJEON, South Korea, July 17, 2019 – Orum Therapeutics announced today an oversubscribed $30 million Series B financing. New investors, IMM Investment, Smilegate Investment, KTB Network, and Stassets Investment, join existing investors, InterVest and KB Investment/Solidus Investment in the financing. The proceeds of the financing will be used to expand OromabTM, Orum’s proprietary cell-specific, cell-penetrating antibody platform technology that targets “undruggable” proteins and delivers a variety of therapeutic payloads. The company is applying the Oromab platform to discover and develop novel therapeutics for cancer and rare diseases, both internally and with partners. The financing will also further expand Orum’s R&D labs in Korea and Boston, where the company was recently accepted into a biotech incubator in Kendall Square, Cambridge.
“A large number of important therapeutic targets are currently considered ‘undruggable,’ making drug discovery for these targets technically challenging,” said Sung Joo Lee, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Orum Therapeutics. “By intracellular delivery of antibodies, our platform redefines what undruggable means.”
Using the Oromab platform, Orum builds antibodies that bind cell-specific receptors and are internalized through receptor-mediated endocytosis. With Orum’s proprietary design, these antibodies escape the early endosome into the cytosol. Once in the cytosol, the antibodies can be therapeutically active and directly target disease-causing proteins or deliver payloads. With the Oromab platform, Orum is exploring several therapeutic avenues: 1) inhibiting Ras and tumor-specific intracellular oncogenic drivers, 2) delivery of oligonucleotides or enzymes for cancer and rare diseases, and 3) targeted degradation of disease proteins.
“Orum’s cell-penetrating antibody platform is unique in that, it has the capacity to not only transform the landscape of druggable targets, but also overcome the limitation of cytosolic delivery of other therapeutic modalities,” said Peter Park, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Orum Therapeutics.
About Orum Therapeutics, Inc.
Orum Therapeutics is a private biotech company developing a new class of therapeutic antibodies targeting cytosolic proteins for unmet medical needs in cancer and rare diseases. Orum leverages its unique cell-penetrating antibody platform, called OromabTM to inhibit drug targets, previously undruggable by small molecules or current antibody therapeutics. In contrast to other approaches, Orum’s antibody platform can intracellularly deliver an active antibody therapeutic or payload, is easily adaptable to target different cell types and intracellular proteins, and does not require chemical modification. For more information, please visit www.orumrx.com.
Contacts:
Sung Joo Lee, Ph.D., Founder and CEO, Orum Therapeutics, +82-42-716-3030, contact@orumrx.com
Jessica Yingling, Ph.D., President, Little Dog Communications, +1-858-344-8091, jessica@litldog.com
JULY 17, 2019