New CEO welcomes Mosaic Therapeutics’s $28m funding
Mosaic Therapeutics, the Wellcome Genome Campus-based oncology therapeutics company, has closed a $28million Series A funding round.
The company’s targeted oncology therapies have been spun out of world-leading research at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, in collaboration with the Netherlands Cancer Institute.
The investment was raised from Syncona Investment Management and Cambridge Innovation Capital.
The funding will be used to further advance Mosaic’s pipeline of targeted oncology therapies for biomarker-stratified populations, progressing its lead programmes through pre-clinical development to IND-enabling studies.
The funds will also support recruitment efforts, building the company’s senior leadership, experimental biology, and computational teams.
Mosaic’s proprietary platform applies research from co-founder Dr Matthew Garnett’s Translational Cancer Genomics Laboratory at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
Dr Garnett is a senior group leader at the Sanger Institute with more than 20 years’ experience in genomics and cancer therapeutics, with past achievements including co-discovery of BRAF mutations in cancer and Werner Syndrome helicase as a target in MSI tumours.
Mosaic’s use of advanced computational methods, while combining mining of large datasets with experimental approaches to identify and develop novel targeted therapies, completely reinvents the traditional approach to target and drug discovery. The company’s bespoke relationship with the Sanger Institute provides it unique access to deep scientific expertise, infrastructure, and biological assets.
In addition, the company has appointed former Novartis Oncology SVP Brian Gladsden as its CEO.
Brian brings his 25 years of experience in biopharmaceuticals to Mosaic – a career which includes five years with Novartis, where he was senior vice president and a member of the worldwide leadership team with responsibility for global commercialisation and strategy for the portfolio.
He has held various other leadership positions, including country CEO, leading cancer therapeutic development and commercial launch across the US, Europe, Australia, South Korea and Japan.
“I believe that Mosaic is ideally positioned to resolve the complexity of cancer, to discover and develop targeted therapies that address areas of high unmet need,” said Brian.
“The people, platform, connection to a world-leading genomics research institute, and strong investor partnerships are truly best in class.”
Alongside Dr Garnett, the company was co-founded by Prof Emile Voest and Dr Adrian Ibrahim in 2020.
Prof Voest is professor of medical oncology, chairman of the board of Cancer Core Europe, group leader at the Netherlands Cancer Institute and Oncode Institute, and independent director of the board of Sanofi SA.
Dr Ibrahim was formerly head of technology translation at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, has 30 years’ experience across the discovery and development of cancer and genomics technologies, and has been involved in multiple genomics company spin-outs.
Dr Garnett said: “Mosaic is ready to lead the next wave of treatments for cancer, through the discovery of effective targeted therapies in molecularly-defined patients.”
Anne Horgan, partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital and director of Mosaic, said: “Cambridge is a globally important hub for biotechnology and life sciences, and Mosaic is a great example of innovation in the ecosystem.”
