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Cancer drug developer Alnair Therapeutics aims to raise $10 million in a seed round, COO Ryan Meyers tells Axios Pro exclusively.

What's next: The new funds would help the Chicago-based biotech launch its first Phase 1 human trial by 2028.

Inside the room: Alnair started fundraising in January and is in discussions with pharmaceutical companies and VCs as it seeks a lead investor, Meyers says

Catch up quick: Spun out of the University of Chicago in 2023, Alnair raised about $1.8 million in a pre-seed round last year from UChicago, Illinois' Treasury INVENT program, Portal Innovations, CJM Ventures and Gaingels.

How it works: Alnair has developed a proprietary platform that uses lactate-responsive nanoparticles to precisely target and treat cancer tumors. 

The approach is designed to minimize damage to healthy tissue throughout the body while simultaneously concentrating significantly more drug inside tumors.

Its lead candidate, ALN-101, showed a 3.5x triple negative breast cancer survival rate and a 26x ewing sarcoma survival rate in an animal trial earlier this year.

What they're saying: "We are the first technology whose gating mechanism is actually targeting lactic acid itself and not the surrogate biomarkers," Meyers says.

What we're watching: Meyers says it's not too early for Alnair to consider a licensing or collaboration deal.

"I don't think we'd say no to that if it was the right partner and the right terms," Meyers says.

Zoom out: Cancer biotechs remain one of the most popular therapeutic areas for private investors, as well as Big Pharma.

Case(s) in point: Last December, Roche subsidiary Genentech agreed to pay the therapeutic research arm of Caris Life Sciences up to $1.1 billion to develop new cancer therapies.

And Zetagen Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech developing breast cancer treatments, raised a $12.9 million Series B1 round in November 2025.

Exclusive: Alnair Therapeutics seeks $10M seed for Phase 1 cancer drug trial

Capital will support early oncology pipeline development.

Illustration of a saline bag solution with money as the liquid in the bag. 

Cancer drug developer Alnair Therapeutics aims to raise $10 million in a seed round, COO Ryan Meyers tells Axios Pro exclusively.What&#x27;s next: The new funds would help the Chicago-based biotech launch its first Phase 1 human trial by 2028.

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Exclusive: Alnair Therapeutics seeks $10M seed for Phase 1 cancer drug trial

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