Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Ascent Therapeutics gets new funding, new CEO

By Mass High Tech Staff

Ascent Therapeutics Inc., a Cambridge biopharmaceutical firm, has announced a $19 million Series A round of funding from Novartis Option Fund, Healthcare Ventures and TVM Capital. The investment is timed with the appointment of new president and CEO Frederick Jones, as well as the naming of Stephen Hunt as senior vice president of discovery research.

The Ascent board of directors includes Lauren Silverman, managing director of the Novartis Option Fund; Chris Mirabelli, managing director of Healthcare Ventures; and Jens Eckstein, general partner of TVM Capital.

Ascent Therapeutics develops Pepducin drugs, originally invented in the Tufts Medical Center laboratories, to treat inflammation, cancer, CNS disorders and cardiovascular disease. The drugs are designed to target G-protein coupled receptors on the cell membrane.