Gloved hands working with test tubes in a lab.

Empire State Development Announces Up To $1.7 Million Investment in ENB Therapeutics

New York Ventures Investment Will Help MWBE Firm Develop Therapeutic to Reverse Resistance to Cancer Immunotherapy

Empire State Development (ESD) today announced an investment of up to $1.7 million in ENB Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing therapeutics to reverse resistance to cancer immunotherapy. The investment comes from New York Ventures, ESD’s venture capital arm. ENB Therapeutics is a New York City-based MWBE firm. The investment will assist the company with funding its operations over the next 24 to 36 months.

Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Howard Zemsky said, “This New York Ventures investment in ENB Therapeutics will further the work of a company combating cancer and advance ESD’s commitment to helping minority and women-owned businesses throughout the state succeed.”

Sumayah Jamal, Founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer of ENB Therapeutics said, “We are very grateful for the support of New York Ventures as one of our Series A investors and for their commitment to supporting MWBE firms such as ours. This support will help us to develop our lead product, ENB-003, to overcome resistance to immunotherapy across multiple tumor types and indications. We have already demonstrated robust pre-clinical efficacy in relevant mouse models across multiple resistant cancers and a favorable safety profile. We now have the capital necessary to advance ENB-003 into Phase 1 clinical trials during the second half of 2019.”

Cancer immunotherapy boosts the natural capacity of immune cells to fight cancer and has shown long-lasting responses in some cancers. However, approximately 60 percent of patients treated with immunotherapy fail to respond to treatment and are left with few other therapeutic options. ENB’s drug solutions can help to unlock the full therapeutic potential of cancer immunotherapy by enabling key immune cells to infiltrate and attack tumors, eradicating tumor cells and prolonging patient survival.

The investment will be disbursed through the New York State Innovation Venture Capital Fund (NYSIVCF).

About New York Ventures

New York Ventures is the venture capital investment arm of Empire State Development, New York State’s chief economic development agency. New York Ventures meets the critical capital needs of the state’s innovation economy by providing funding to high-growth startups as they move from concept to commercialization, through early growth and expansion. More information is available here.

 

Contact:

Adam Kilduff | [email protected] | (212) 803-3744

ESD Press Office | [email protected] | (800) 260-7313