Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc. has landed US$14.5 million in venture financing to develop a proprietary cancer and inflammatory disease drug treatment.
Ventures West Capital Ltd. led the private placement along with Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., Baker Brothers Investments, B.C. Advantage Funds and Lions Capital Corp.
The funds will help the biotech firm develop its patented SHIP biochemical enzyme, which regulates a pathway essential in regulating cell growth.
SHIP exclusively regulates blood cells and can potentially be used for various cancer, auto-immune and inflammatory disease treatments while having minimal or no effect on non-blood tissues.
The venture funds raised will be used to develop the drug for clinical studies planned for 2008.
Chris Laird, Ventures West vice-president, and Dr. Asish Xavier, principal at Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., will join Dr. Kevin Leslie and Kenneth Galbraith on Aquinox's board of directors.
Founded in 2004, privately held Aquinox is a spinoff of UBC and the B.C. Cancer Agency and based on research from the company's four founding scientists: Dr. Raymond Andersen, Dr. Gerald Krystal, Dr. Alice Mui and Dr. Christopher Ong.