Image of chromatin courtesy Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
The round was led by Nomura Phase4 ventures, with existing investors Abingworth Management, Essex Woodlands Healthcare Ventures, Gilde Healthcare and the Wellcome Trust all following on.
Chromatin biology has become a hot area of oncology research, with the potential to deliver small molecule therapies that combine the efficiency of chemotherapy with the tolerability of targeted agents. Chromatin is the structure that stores DNA within cells, and Chroma has discovered a number of inhibitors of chromatin modifying enzymes (CMEs) that control when and how the genes the DNA codes for are turned on.
The lead product CHR 2797, an orally available aminopeptidase inhibitor, is currently in a Phase I trial in advanced, metastatic solid tumours and is due to enter two further Phase I trials shortly. Behind this, the Oxford-based company has a histone deacetylase inhibitor and an aurora kinase inhibitor.
Chroma has also developed a drug targeting technology in which a chemical motif attached to the active molecule acts as a chaperone to get it through the cell wall. It then unlinks, leaving the drug marooned in the cell, and providing the opportunity for it to accumulate.
Chroma raised £1.5 million from Abingworth and Cancer Research Ventures when it was set up in 2001 around the research of the founding scientists Tony Kouzarides at Cambridge University and Paul Workman at the Institute of Cancer Research in London. It later raised £10 million in a two-stage second round in May and December 2004.
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