- Boundless Bio, a company interrogating and targeting extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) in aggressive cancers, announced it raised $46.4 million
Boundless Bio — a company that is interrogating and targeting extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) in aggressive cancers — announced it has raised $46.4 million in Series A funding. This round of funding was co-led by ARCH Venture Partners and City Hill Ventures with participation from Vertex Ventures, GT Healthcare Capital Partners, Boxer Capital of the Tavistock Group, Alexandria Venture Investments, and several undisclosed investors.
What does Boundless Bio do? The company leverages new discoveries about the role of ecDNA in driving cancer growth, resistance, and recurrence for developing the first ecDNA-targeting medicines and transform outcomes for patients with high copy number, focal gene amplification cancers — which have historically been very difficult to treat.
Boundless Bio was launched by a team of pioneering cancer researchers — which is led by Paul Mischel, M.D., a Distinguished Professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and a member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. Mischel has a deep understanding of the role of ecDNA in cancer pathogenesis and evolution.
Mischel had led efforts to interrogate ecDNA — which are identified with high frequency in nearly half of all solid tumor cancers and thought to be one of the key drivers of the most aggressive cancers specifically those characterized by high copy number amplifications of oncogenes.
ecDNA are essentially large circles of DNA that are located outside the chromosomes but within the nucleus of a cell, which have multiple genes and encode regulatory and other types of sequences. And ecDNA encode genes that translate to proteins are advantageous for cell survival such as oncogenes, the ecDNA provide a distinct advantage to cells that contain several copies. This can then drive tumor growth, progression, and resistance to standard treatment options.
This funding round will be used to solidify a leadership position in the emerging field of ecDNA biology by continuing to build technology capable of identifying and characterizing ecDNA-driven tumors, identifying and validating novel cancer targets, and developing targeted and proprietary treatments that exploit ecDNA’s unique vulnerabilities.
The initial programs are directed to high copy number focal gene amplification solid tumors where ecDNA are believed to be a primary driver.
Earlier this year, Zachary Hornby was named chief executive officer, president, and a director of Boundless Bio. Before that, Hornby was previously the CEO of Optera Therapeutics and the COO of IGNYTA (from inception through its acquisition and integration by Roche).
“Boundless Bio aims to improve cancer care by bringing a whole new class of weapons to the cancer-fighting armamentarium that exploit the emerging field of ecDNA biology,” said Hornby in a statement. “When DNA in cancer cells comes off chromosomes in the form of ecDNA, it replicates more rapidly and is more transcriptionally active, allowing cancer cells to grow and resist treatment. We are creating powerful medicines that counterattack this ecDNA phenomenon by eliminating cancer cells’ ability to employ ecDNA to survive.”
“Guided by our developing understanding of ecDNA, our scientific founders have created a new architectural map of the cancer genome to demonstrate why some cancers aggressively evolve and resist existing treatment approaches,” explained Dr. Mischel. “We have developed technology capable of identifying, characterizing, and ultimately, drugging, ecDNA-driven tumors. Boundless Bio has brought together a team of pioneering, committed, and collaborative individuals to tackle the hardest-to-treat cancers.”
Jonathan Lim, M.D., the former co-founder and CEO of Ignyta, serves as the company chairman. Lim is also a Managing Partner at City Hill Ventures and Venture Partner at ARCH Venture Partners
“By targeting ecDNA biology, Boundless Bio is translating some of the most exciting and differentiated recent discoveries in cancer research to develop an entirely new class of medicines for patients with cancer,” added Lim. “We are excited to join this exceptional group of investors in supporting the company’s efforts to bring this potentially game-changing technology to bear on gene amplification cancers that have historically evaded treatment.”
Along with Dr. Mischel, the company’s scientific founders also include Vineet Bafna, Ph.D. (Professor of Computer Science & Engineering, UC San Diego), Howard Chang, M.D., Ph.D., (Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Genomics and Genetics at Stanford University), Ben Cravatt, Ph.D. (Professor and Gilula Chair of Chemical Biology at The Scripps Research Institute), Prashant Mali, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at UC San Diego), and Roel Verhaak, Ph.D. (Professor and Associate Director of Computational Biology at The Jackson Laboratory).
And the company’s leadership team also includes a number of experienced life sciences executives and drug development professionals, including CTO Jason Christiansen, Ph.D., chief business officer Scott Moorefield, Ph.D., VP of Chemistry Tony Pinkerton, Ph.D., and VP of Talent and Culture Meredith Wesley. And the company board members include Dr. Lim, Kristina Burow (ARCH Venture Partners), Ho Cho, Ph.D. (Vice President of Biotherapeutics at Celgene), and Carolyn Ng, Ph.D. (Managing Director, Vertex Ventures).
“Boundless Bio’s exceptionally talented leadership team has deep expertise in cancer drug research and development, as well as strong company building experience,” commented Burow. “We have tremendous confidence in their ability to create life-improving therapies for patients with previously intractable cancers.”
Boundless’ joint lab and office headquarters is based out of the biotech hub of the Torrey Pines region in San Diego, California.
