Pheon Therapeutics

The company is led by CEO Dr. Cyrus Mozayeni, a physician and seasoned biotech entrepreneur who previously founded and led companies like Vedere Bio through a significant acquisition by Novartis. Pheon's strategy involves a methodical approach to ADC engineering, utilizing both novel and clinically validated monoclonal antibodies. These antibodies are armed with warheads from a proprietary payload platform, which features a novel mechanism of action, or with established linker-payload combinations to optimize the balance between safety and efficacy for each cancer target.

Pheon’s business model is centered on advancing its pipeline through clinical trials to demonstrate value for patients and stakeholders. The company has successfully raised significant capital to fund these operations. After launching with a $68 million Series A round in 2022, Pheon secured a $120 million Series B financing in May 2024. This funding is designated to advance its first three ADC assets through clinical proof-of-concept. The lead program, PHN-010, targets a novel, first-in-class protein that is highly expressed across various difficult-to-treat solid tumors but has low expression in healthy tissue. This program, which uses a topoisomerase-1 inhibitor payload, was expected to enter Phase 1 clinical trials in 2024.

Backed by a syndicate of specialist healthcare investors including TCGX, Atlas Venture, Forbion, and Brandon Capital, Pheon operates with state-of-the-art medicinal chemistry laboratories in London, UK, and a commercial office in Boston, US.