XTuit raises $22 million in series A

XTuit Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) raised $22 million in a series A round led by New Enterprise Associates. New investors CTI Life Sciences, Arcus Ventures and Omega Funds also participated, as did founding investor Polaris Partners.

XTuit is developing preclinical compounds that are activated in the body's microenvironment to treat cancer and fibrotic diseases. CEO Alan Crane, who is also a partner at Polaris, told BioCentury the company intends to develop one candidate in combination with immune checkpoint therapies to treat cancer, and another as a single-agent therapy to treat liver diseases including cirrhosis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). He declined to disclose the candidates' targets or mechanisms. ...