Leading an effort to create innovative drug systems that can beat cancer seems like a full-time job.Leading an effort to find the $200 million it will take to win federal approval for marketing just the first of those drugs also seems like a full-time job.Welcome to Per Hellsund’s world.Both of those tasks fit in his […]
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Leading an effort to create innovative drug systems that can beat cancer seems like a full-time job.
Leading an effort to find the $200 million it will take to win federal approval for marketing just the first of those drugs also seems like a full-time job.
Welcome to Per Hellsund’s world.
Both of those tasks fit in his portfolio as CEO at Cybrexa Therapeutics, a four-year-old bioscience startup based in New Haven’s Science Park.
Hellsund has the kind of diverse scientific and business background that prepares a CEO for carrying that kind of dual load.
He was the former CEO of Wallingford-based CyVek, where he led the development, commercialization and exit of a novel automated immunoassay system that was acquired by Bio-Techne. Prior to that, he was the president of inc.jet Inc., a startup that led the introduction of thermal inkjet printing in the commercial printing space.
In co-founding Cybrexa, he rejoins CyVek colleagues Kevin Didden, as Cybrexa board chair, and Kevin Rakin, as a director. They are seeking to leverage research developed at Yale University’s School of Medicine by Dr. Ranjit Bindra, Cybrexa’s chief scientific advisor and scientific co-founder.
Cybrexa’s proprietary alphalex platform selectively delivers powerful anticancer agents directly into tumor cells. The key is peptide technology developed by Dr. Donald Engelman, Higgins Professor of biochemistry at Yale and a Guggenheim Fellow, and exclusively licensed by Cybrexa. It allows alphalex to differentiate between tumors and healthy tissue, reducing toxic side effects.
The approach won important validation when the National Cancer Institute chose Cybrexa from among 60 applicants for Next program funding support for clinical trials of CBX12, which targets advanced or metastatic refractory solid tumors.
Those clinical trials have begun at four sites — including Yale — and are designed to prove safety, tolerability and recommended dosage. But costs continue to rise, and the venture remains “pre-revenue.”
Hellsund’s team has raised $47 million so far and is now seeking an additional $50 million to $75 million as a bridge to an anticipated IPO in 2022. However, Hellsund said he isn’t closing the door to a possible partnership with, or even acquisition by, a deep-pocketed big pharma firm.
Overall, Hellsund estimates it will take north of $200 million to win Food and Drug Administration approval to market the first of the four products in Cybrexa’s pipeline.
Given Cybrexa’s roots at Yale, it’s no surprise that Hellsund is a booster for New Haven’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
He said the access to talent is world class and a critical mass of bioscience innovation is building.
A core staff of 24 employees is supplemented by six to 12 consultants. The firm also has assembled a board of scientific advisors that reads like a who’s who of industry giants.
