Aprea heading for Phase III with €50M series C round

Aprea Therapeutics AB (Solna, Sweden) raised €50 million ($56.9 million) in a series C round on Nov. 30, with which it intends to fund a Phase III study of lead candidate APR-246 to treat myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The small molecule quinuclidinone is designed to promote correct folding and therefore restore wild-type conformation and function of p53, a tumor suppressor gene which is mutated in more than 50% of all human cancers.

Formed in 2003 and backed by Karolinska Development AB (SSE:KDEV) for more than a decade, Aprea jump-started its clinical development with a €46 million ($50.4 million) round in 2016. Although solid-tumor indications were its primary focus at the time of the series B round, the company is now devoting resources primarily to hematological indications based on data readouts this year (see "Stepping Up in Scandinavia")...