DAVIS, Calif. (PRWEB)
October 28, 2020

ARIZ Precision Medicine (ARIZ), pronounced “arise”, today announced that it has secured $685,000 in seed financing bringing total funding to date of $2.5 million. “Proceeds will be used to expand the management team as well as continue development of its proprietary PRDM-based product candidates for lung cancer, as well as ovarian, breast, and gastric cancers, and multiple myeloma”, said CEO Brad Niles, PhD.

Moneta Ventures led the investment round with participation from existing and new investors. “ARIZ’s mission aligns strongly with Moneta’s vision to invest in Greater Sacramento region companies that are truly innovating in healthcare and technology,” stated Sabya Das, Partner at Moneta Ventures, who has joined the ARIZ Board of Directors along with Lokesh Sikaria (Moneta) and Kevin Nagle. “Recent animal data on ARIZ-047, the company’s lead candidate for lung cancer, shows efficacy data that is similar to FDA approved lung cancer drugs, but without the toxic side effects. These early studies significantly de-risk the drug development process, and more significantly support the company’s approach to proving that PRDM’s are validated as drug targets for various cancers”.

“ARIZ’s Oncogene Targeting Platform is based on the PRDM gene and protein family that is a key driver of cancers”, stated Lonnie Bookbinder, ARIZ Founder and Executive Chairman of the ARIZ Board of Directors. “Our mission is to make these targets “druggable” so that we can fully exploit the unique properties of the PRDMs to fight cancer and other diseases. With our partners at Keystone Nano and Sphaera Pharma, we are now proceeding with our trials in animal models of cancer”.

This investment continues a successful year for ARIZ, as earlier this year ARIZ was selected as one of nine winners at Johnson and Johnson’s QuickPitch competition at the 2020 JP Morgan Healthcare conference. ARIZ followed that up by being voted as the “Buzz of BIO” winner in the Technologies of Tomorrow category for this year’s BIO International Conference. ARIZ was also selected for California Life Sciences Institute prestigious FAST Advisory Program: http://califesciencesinstitute.org/entrepreneurship/fast-advisory-program/

About ARIZ’s PRDM Oncogene Targeting Platform™:

Positive Regulatory Domain-containing Methyltransferases (PRDMs) are transcription factors that regulate gene expression to control cell differentiation and proliferation. They are considered “Master Regulators” of DNA that repress many common oncogenes to suppress tumorigenesis. Disruption in PRDMs is found in many cancer types, both in hematological and solid tumors. Disruptions in epigenetic regulation (age, environment, viruses) lead to PRDM gene silencing or over-expression. ARIZ has a broad and deep drug development platform based on validated PRDM targets for cancer. https://www.arizbio.com

For a recent review see: Multifaceted Role of PRDM Proteins in Human Cancer, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 2648.

About Moneta Ventures

Moneta Ventures (https://www.monetaventures.com) is a Venture Capital firm that invests in promising early stage companies in underserved markets. We invest in early stage companies in the enterprise technology, healthcare, and internet/consumer application sectors. We plan to deploy 70% of our Fund in companies headquartered in Sacramento and Northern California. We invest in management teams with skin in the game and an unwavering commitment to see their business ideas succeed.

For additional information please contact:

Brad Niles, PhD., CEO

ARIZ Precision Medicine

+1 408-656-3542

brad@arizbio.com

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