With $175m, Mariana Will Take First Precision Radiopharmaceutical Into The Clinic

Mariana Oncology Inc. CEO Simon Read believes that one of the reasons his company was able to raise the $175m series B venture capital round announced on 7 September was its differentiated approach to drug development in the increasingly crowded radiopharmaceutical space. While other radiopharmaceutical firms may source different parts of their molecules from outside sources or outsource their manufacturing, Mariana keeps all parts of the process in-house.

The company has also sought to differentiate its pipeline from other radiopharmaceutical firms by moving into the clinic first with MC-339 for small-cell lung cancer rather than focusing first on a prostate cancer radiopharmaceutical candidate, like many of its peers. Mariana, previously known as Curie Therapeutics, Inc., raised a $75m series A round in December 2021