Ona Therapeutics is named as one of Fierce Biotech’s “Fierce 15” Biotech Companies of 2020

Ona Therapeutics, which is focused on the discovery and development of therapeutic biologics to treat metastatic cancer, today announced that it has been named by Fierce Biotech as one of 2020’s Fierce 15 biotechnology companies, designating it as one of the most promising private biotechnology companies in the industry.

Valerie Vanhooren, CEO and co-founder of Ona Therapeutics, commented: “It is a great honor to be selected from hundreds of companies around the world as a Fierce 15 company. It has been a transformational year for Ona Therapeutics. Following one of the biggest Series A in Europe this year, this award validates our scientific approach and our commitment to developing first-in-class treatments for metastatic cancer patients. I would like to thank our team for their exceptional work, and we look forward to taking Ona Therapeutics to the next stage of development.”

Ona Therapeutics was founded in 2019 by research scientists Salvador Aznar-Benitah and Valerie Vanhooren as an IRB Barcelona and ICREA spin-off. Its approach is based on pioneering work from Dr Aznar-Benitah published in Nature in 2017 that validates Metastasis-Initiating Cells as therapeutic targets in metastatic cancer. In June 2020, Ona Therapeutics raised €30 million in Series A financing to complete the pre-clinical development in a variety of tumor types and to move its lead candidate into first clinical studies in patients with metastatic cancer. The company’s investors include Asabys Partners, Alta Life Sciences, Bpifrance – InnoBio 2, Fund+ and Ysios Capital.

Now in its 18th edition, Fierce 15 celebrates the next generation of healthcare companies championing innovation and creativity in the face of intense competition. Every year Fierce Biotech evaluates hundreds of private companies from around the world for its annual Fierce 15 list, which is based on a variety of factors such as the strength of its technology, partnerships, venture backers and a competitive market position.