HOUSTON, Aug. 14, 2026 — Fannin Partners, LLC today announced two new grants from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) and the Faris Foundation to advance development of a targeted Raptamer-Drug Conjugate (RapDC) therapy for Ewing sarcoma, an aggressive pediatric cancer with limited treatment options. The CDMRP’s mission is foster novel approaches to biomedical research in response to the expressed needs of its stakeholders, and the Faris Foundation is dedicated to advancing research and improving outcomes for children with cancer.
Ewing sarcoma is a rare and aggressive bone and soft tissue cancer that primarily affects children and adolescents. Patients whose disease recurs or becomes resistant to standard therapy have few treatment options. The company is developing RapDCs targeting IL1RAP, an internalizing cell-surface receptor expressed on the majority of Ewing sarcomas. RapDCs are similar to antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), replacing antibodies with fully synthetic Raptamers that bind internalizing cell-surface proteins and deliver cytotoxic payloads directly into cancer cells. These awards also represent further external validation of the broader Raptamer platform, which is designed to generate targeted therapeutics against a wide range of disease-associated cell-surface receptors.
“At the Faris Foundation, we invest in exceptional science,” said Dr. Asha Virani, Founder and Mommy to Chief Angel Officer of the Faris Foundation. “Fannin’s team is advancing an innovative platform with the potential to transform the treatment of Ewing sarcoma. The CDMRP’s support further validates the scientific promise of this work and underscores the urgent need for new treatment options for children with this devastating disease. We are honored to partner with Fannin in advancing this important program.”
“We are grateful for the support of both the CDMRP and The Faris Foundation,” said Dr. Atul Varadhachary, Fannin Managing Partner. “Children with relapsed Ewing sarcoma have seen far too little therapeutic innovation over the past several decades. These grants enable us to advance our synthetic RapDC platform toward a new generation of targeted therapies that are more precise and programmable than existing approaches. Philanthropic funding is especially important for advancing therapies for rare pediatric cancers, where commercial incentives alone are often insufficient.”
These awards expand Fannin’s growing pediatric oncology portfolio, joining Allterum Therapeutics’ CD127 antibody program in clinical development for acute lymphoblastic leukemia and Raptamer Therapeutics’ RapDC program for osteosarcoma currently in IND-enabling studies. Beyond the Ewing sarcoma and osteosarcoma programs, the Raptamer platform provides a versatile foundation for developing targeted therapeutics across multiple disease areas. Its modular design enables the development of therapies directed against disease-associated cell-surface targets, supporting future applications in oncology and other therapeutic areas.
About Raptamer Therapeutics
Raptamer Therapeutics is Fannin’s proprietary precision therapeutics discovery platform. The fully synthetic Raptamer technology is designed to enable precise targeting, programmable molecular design, and site-specific conjugation of therapeutic payloads. Using the Raptamer platform, Fannin is advancing a pipeline of targeted therapeutics across multiple therapeutic areas.
About Fannin
Established in 2014, Houston-based Fannin Partners is among the most active early-stage product development groups in the life sciences with a dozen programs/platforms at different stages including four in clinical development. Fannin advances its pipeline both internally and through Fannin-founded entities with a combination of investor and grant funding. More than $295 million has been invested across the Fannin portfolio, including over $85 million from grant funding. An additional critical element to our model is helping develop life sciences entrepreneurs locally through our talent development programs. For more information, visit www.FanninInnovation.com.
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