ProNAi continues to raise millions of dollars for its research in Plymouth. The 8-year-old start-up brought in $2 million this year and has raised $20 million in total from the likes of the
Apjohn Ventures Fund and the
Grand Angels.
Those funds have allowed the company to expand to eight employees and the occasional intern after hiring five people in the last year. The life sciences firm is developing a cancer-fighting drug. It recently finished its initial human clinical trial and has to conduct two more clinical trails before it can be approved by the Food & Drug Administration.
"The drug targets cancer cells and is designed to kill cancer cells," says Mina Sooch, CEO of
ProNAi. "Simply put, it doesn't kill normal cells. We had little-to-no side effects in the study that we just conducted."
Sooch expects the next clinical trails to take at least four years. Commercialization could come within five years. In the meantime, Sooch and her team continue to raise more money to push the development of the drug forward.
Source: Mina Sooch, CEO of ProNAi
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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