Vivace Therapeutics scores $30M Series C to take oncology candidate for 'Hippo' pathway to human trial next year

Named for the Italian term indicating a piece of music should be played at an upbeat and lively tempo, California-based Vivace Therapeutics seems to have lived up to its namesake.

In the mere five years the small-molecule drug discovery and development company has been in business, its scientists and researchers have devoted significant amounts of time and money toward therapeutics that target a pathway in the body that can cause cancerous tumors to develop if certain proteins are activated. Now, with $30 million in Series C financing, Vivace is aiming to test one of its candidates against that pathway starting in early 2021.