Onkaido Therapeutics
About Onkaido Therapeutics.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
$20.0m | Late VC | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Onkaido Therapeutics was established in January 2014 as a strategic venture by Moderna Therapeutics, with an initial capital commitment of $20 million. This formation represented a focused effort by Moderna to create a standalone entity dedicated exclusively to accelerating the development of messenger RNA (mRNA) based treatments for oncology. The company was headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a major hub for the biotechnology industry.
The leadership at inception included Dr. Stephen Hoge as the founding Chief Executive Officer, a role he took on in addition to his position as senior vice president at Moderna. Dr. Hoge's background includes being a partner at McKinsey & Company, where he advised leading biotech and pharmaceutical companies, and his experience was instrumental in founding Moderna's internal oncology efforts. Peter F. Smith, Ph.D., served as the founding Chief Scientific Officer, bringing 30 years of pharmaceutical leadership from companies like Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Merck, and SmithKline. His experience included contributions to the development of major drugs such as Velcade.
Onkaido's core business was to leverage Moderna's mRNA Therapeutics™ platform to address previously undruggable cancer targets. The technology is designed to use mRNA to prompt the body's own cells to produce therapeutic proteins or antibodies internally, a method intended to work with the body's natural processes. This approach was aimed at creating a new modality for cancer treatment, potentially offering a superior alternative to existing drug options. The company's initial pipeline consisted of 15 pre-clinical drug candidates focusing on areas like apoptosis, central regulatory nodes, and immunotherapy. By operating as a separate unit, Onkaido was structured to intensely focus on the specific challenges and opportunities in oncology drug development.
Keywords: Onkaido Therapeutics, Moderna venture, mRNA oncology, cancer therapeutics, messenger RNA, drug discovery, apoptosis, immunotherapy, preclinical drug candidates, Stephen Hoge, Peter F. Smith, oncology treatments, undruggable targets, protein production, antibody production, Cambridge biotech, pharmaceutical development