Olema Oncology raises $54m for breast cancer drug candidate OP-1250

Olema Oncology, a California-based biopharma company focused on developing targeted therapies for women’s cancers, has raised $54 million in a Series B financing round, which was co-led by BVF Partners, Logos Capital, and Janus Henderson Investors.

The US biopharma company will use the proceeds for advancing OP-1250, its lead drug candidate in breast cancer, into phase 1/2 clinical development besides expanding ongoing research and development work.

The Series B round of Olema Oncology also saw participation from new investors – Cormorant Asset Management, Wellington Management Company, RA Capital Management, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, Surveyor Capital – a Citadel company, and Foresite Capital.

Cyrus Harmon – President and CEO of Olema Oncology said: “We are delighted to have the support of this premier syndicate of investors who share our commitment to developing targeted therapies designed to improve the lives of women living with breast cancer.

“With our deep insight into the biology of breast cancer, including target engagement, receptor binding and intracellular signaling, we have carefully selected OP-1250 as our lead program and are advancing it into human studies. Our goal is to develop more effective medicines to treat estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.”

Olema Oncology is looking to launch a phase 1/2 dose-escalation and expansion clinical trial of OP-1250 in the second half of this year. The early-stage clinical trial will assess OP-1250 as a single agent in women having estrogen receptor-positive (ER+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) recurrent, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. This will be followed by studies of the drug candidate in combination with other targeted breast cancer treatments, said Olema Oncology.

Gorjan Hrustanovic – Principal at BVF Partners said: “We are excited to continue financing the next stage of growth for Olema, and to help build a premier targeted oncology company focused on women’s cancers.

“We were attracted to Olema by its excellent science, robust preclinical data, experienced management team, and potential to make a significant impact on what remains a large unmet need among patients with breast and other hormone-positive cancers. We see a tremendous opportunity for OP-1250 to become a backbone of therapy for patients living with breast and other cancers.”