Oncology start-up Senz gets seed funding for chemo agent

Start-up Senz Oncology has secured seed funding to support the development of a chemotherapeutic agent as a potential treatment for acute leukaemias.

Private US-based venture investment company CoValence has committed to providing seed investment in Senz, which is developing the agent in collaboration with California's Allyence Research.

Senz was established in Melbourne in February this year by Dr Ian Nisbet and Dr Anthony Filippis, co-founders of biotech corporate advisory firm Afandin.

Senz is developing VAL-1000, an oral chemotherapeutic agent with the potential to provide a new treatment option for leukaemias including acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

Nisbet said that due to the agent's low toxicity, VAL-1000 could be particularly useful for elderly patients unable to tolerate standard chemotherapeutic treatments.

AML is the most common type of leukaemia in Australian adults, with around 1,000 new cases diagnosed each year.

Financial terms of the seed investment agreement were not disclosed.

Allyence president Dr Dennis Brown has meanwhile joined the Senz board as a non-executive director. Brown said Allyence's decision to co-develop VAL-1000 with Senz was motivated heavily by the government's R&D tax incentive and clinical trial notification schemes.