MIAMI, Feb. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ponce Therapeutics,
Inc. ("Ponce"), a company leveraging the growing scientific
knowledge surrounding the aging process to develop anti-aging
technologies, has now become operational with the launching of its
first R & D program, targeting aging-associated skin disorders.
The Company has secured laboratory space in Houston, TX, and has hired its first
scientists for executing their R & D plan targeting the
elimination of p16-expressing cells in the skin. The cell
proliferation inhibitor, p16, is highly expressed in both senescent
cells and in in situ carcinoma (Bowen's Disease), which will
be the focus of Ponce's efforts for first product approval.
Rapha Capital Management, LLC (https://www.raphacap.com), an
investment management firm located in Miami, Florida, through Rapha Capital
Investment XIII, LLC ("RCI XIII") (an entity managed by Rapha
Capital), led Ponce's recently closed Convertible Note
financing. The $1,500,000
financing will be used to transition Ponce into an operational
company and begin execution of Ponce's R & D plan. With
the close of the Convertible Note financing, Kevin Slawin, founder and President of Rapha
Capital Management, added the title of Executive Chairman, to his
CEO role at Ponce.
Rapha Capital is an investment management firm focused on making
strategic investments in early stage, non-public biotechnology
companies, through special purpose joint venture entities which it
manages. Rapha Capital was founded by its President,
Kevin Slawin, M.D., a successful and
experienced oncologic and robotic surgeon. After leaving
practice, Dr. Slawin has been serving as a biotech consultant,
investor, and founder, focusing on disruptive technologies in
oncology, T cells and immunotherapy, and other breakthrough
healthcare technologies. He is the founder of Bellicum
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Bellicum"), a publicly traded company
listed on NASDAQ, leading Bellicum to a successful $161 million IPO in December, 2014. He also
plays a guiding role in several of the investments managed by Rapha
Capital in certain companies, serving as a board member at 3DBio
Therapeutics, Inc. (https://3dbiocorp.com/), FIZE Medical, Inc.
(www.fizemedical.com), and Demeetra AgBio, Inc.
(www.demeetra.com).
Kevin Slawin, MD is the founder
of Ponce, and will serve as the Chairman and CEO.
David Spencer, PhD. is the founding
Chief Technology Officer. Ponce Therapeutics, Inc. reunites
the team that founded Bellicum Pharmaceuticals and took it public
in 2014 with a $55 million crossover
Series C and a $161 million IPO. The
team is retooling their original cell control technology with
state-of-the-art advances towards their new goal of creating
anti-aging products with a solid underlying scientific basis that
actually work.
"The science of aging has continued to mature and can now
provide a scientific basis for technologies to reverse the aging
process in humans. Proof of concept data in animal models
demonstrates that removal of senescent cells from organs improves
their function and imbues them with a more youthful profile.
Targeting p16-expressing cells for apoptotic elimination is one
approach to removing senescent cells from the body and is also a
valid approach to targeting Bowen's disease of the skin, which also
expresses high levels of p16, profile," said Dr. Slawin. "I'm
excited to begin work in the anti-aging space, which I believe will
quickly rival oncology in both value and interest" he added. "Given
our greater than two-decade animal model and clinical experience
with regulated cell signaling and cell survival, along with recent
advances in non-viral gene delivery platforms, we are now poised to
leverage an increasingly detailed, mechanistic understanding of
aging to arrest or even reverse it," added Dr. Spencer.
About Rapha Capital Management, LLC – Rapha
Capital Management, LLC is an investment management firm located in
Miami, Florida, focusing on
strategic investments in early stage, non-public biotechnology
companies. Rapha Capital was founded by its President,
Kevin Slawin, MD, a successful and
experienced oncologic and robotic surgeon, biotech consultant,
investor, and founder focusing on technologies in oncology, T cells
and immunotherapy, as well as other breakthrough healthcare
technologies. He is the founder of Bellicum Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (NASDAQ: BLCM). He is co-Inventor of the
FDA,-approved "prostate health index (phi)"
test licensed and marketed by Beckman
Coulter and utilized around the world. He has
published extensively in top medical and scientific journals
including the Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA), Journal of the National Cancer
Institute (JNCI), and the New England Journal of
Medicine (NEJM). He has also been routinely
listed in America's Top Doctors for Cancer (Castle Connolly
Medical) and The Best Doctors in America
(Woodward/White). In 2003, he was awarded the F.
Brantley Scott, Jr., Award for
Innovation and Creativity in Urology.
About Ponce Therapeutics, Inc.
Ponce Therapeutics –
"Anti-aging Technologies Based on Real Science and Developed by
Real Scientists" - Ponce Therapeutics is leveraging the growing
scientific knowledge surrounding the process of aging to develop
its first state-of-the-art biotechnology platform to restore the
youthful balance of aged or "senescent" and young cells in the
skin, targeting the p16-expressing senescent cells for elimination.
This provides a "reboot" of one's genetic program to turn the clock
on one's skin back to its youthful exuberance. Targeting p16
will also potentially allow targeting of Bowen's disease as the
regulatory pathway for approval. While initially focused on
skin, Ponce is planning to develop a wide-ranging portfolio of
anti-aging products based on the best science in the nascent
anti-aging field. Ponce is headquartered in Miami, Florida with research facilities
located in Houston, TX. For more
information, visit www.poncethera.com or email
info@poncethera.com.
For more information about Ponce Therapeutics, Inc., email
info@poncethera.com or visit https://www.poncethera.com
For more information about Rapha Capital Management, email
info@raphacapital.com or visit https://www.raphacap.com
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SOURCE Rapha Capital Management, LLC and Ponce Therapeutics,
Inc.