ニュース

Newton Biocapital announces its first investment in Japan from its “Newton Biocapital Partners II” fund to Japanese drug discovery startup, Tensegrity Pharma

This investment will allow Tensegrity Pharma to continue development after receiving the transfer of assets from Astellas Pharma

Newton Biocapital (headquarters: Brussels, Belgium; CEO: Alain Parthoens; Japan Representative: Sadashi Suzuki; hereinafter referred to as “NBC”) is a venture capital firm that invests in and fosters drug discovery startup companies in Japan and Europe. Today, it announced its first investment in Japan from the fund, “Newton Biocapital Partners II (NBC II),” established in 2021, to Japanese drug discovery startup, Tensegrity Pharma Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Founder, President and CEO: Takahito Nakahara).

NBC II has decided to invest 500 million yen in the seed round of Tensegrity Pharma, focusing on the future potential of the company's development program, which addresses the unmet medical needs of treating cachexia. It also plans to provide ongoing support for future fundraising.

With this investment, Tensegrity Pharma will receive the transfer of assets for which clinical development project was discontinued from for strategic reason from Astellas Pharma and continue to develop its treatment of cachexia. NBC will also dispatch two directors to Tensegrity Pharma to provide hands-on support for clinical development.

Cachexia

The wasting associated with chronic diseases such as heart disease and infectious diseases has long been known, but the pathophysiology of cachexia is still unclear and there is no standard treatment. Recent advances in science have shown that various molecular mechanisms in skeletal muscle, adipose tissue, and the digestive, central nervous, and immune systems are involved in the development of cachexia, and cancer cachexia is defined as a multifactorial syndrome characterized by a persistent decrease in skeletal muscle mass (with or without a decrease in fat mass) that cannot be completely recovered with conventional nutritional support and leads to progressive functional impairment. In particular, it has been suggested that cancer cachexia is also related to the pathological conditions of the tumor-released humoral factors and the tumor-induced immune response and metabolic changes. (Source: Cancer Cachexia Handbook, excerpt by Tatsuaki Naito)

Michihiko Wada, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Regulatory and Development Officer of NBC, said, “TSP-101” is a drug that suppress the progression of cancer cachexia by regulating the signals related to tumor-related immune responses, inflammatory cytokines, and metabolism, and it is expected to have a synergistic effect on tumor growth and immune responses. It is expected to be the first in its category of drugs to be approved.”

Takahito Nakahara, Ph.D., founder, President and CEO of Tensegrity Pharma, said, “TSP- 101”, which Tensegrity Pharma is developing, is expected to have anti-cachexia effects by blocking the signals of specific factors that are overexpressed in various cancers, which have a high incidence of cachexia, and suppressing cancer-derived inflammatory reactions . TSP- 101 is a project that was being developed by Astellas Pharma Inc. and has been taken over by Tensegrity Pharma, which aims to quickly move it into clinical phase 1 and quickly obtain proof of concept (POC).