TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced a $25,000 investment in Sirius Biotech Ventures on September 15, 2026, through its Concept Capital Program. The Frederick, Maryland-based company is developing a platform aimed at improving the efficiency of drug discovery in oncology. CEO Frantz Jean-François, PhD, said: “This support from TEDCO validates our innovative approach to tackling resistance to KRAS-targeted therapies. With this funding, we can accelerate our discovery program and identify promising combination therapies designed to extend the durability of clinical response to KRAS inhibitors.”
Targeting a Known Weak Point in Cancer Treatment
Sirius Biotech Ventures is building a platform that combines high-content phenotypic and functional profiling with mass spectrometry to speed up drug discovery. The discovery-stage oncology company is developing companion small-molecule drug candidates designed to overcome resistance to KRAS inhibitors — a class of cancer drugs whose effectiveness can fade over time as tumors develop resistance — and extend how long patients respond to treatment. By pairing clinically relevant models of KRAS inhibitor resistance with data-driven profiling and diverse natural-product chemistry, the company aims to identify validated KRAS combination assets ready for licensing within 18 to 24 months.
“Sirius Biotech Ventures is tackling a gap in KRAS-targeted cancer therapy with an innovative approach,” said Justin Ferguson, innovation manager, Venture Development, at TEDCO. “Supporting innovations like this is central to TEDCO’s mission of strengthening Maryland’s life sciences ecosystem, and we hope to see this funding fuel the company’s continued growth.”
Part of a Broader Early-Stage Funding Push
The investment comes through TEDCO’s Concept Capital program, created to provide critical early-stage funding for tech companies working to launch and grow their businesses, with the broader goal of establishing Maryland as a hub for entrepreneurial success.
TEDCO CEO Troy LeMaile-Stovall tied the investment to the state’s broader life sciences strengths: “Maryland continues to attract world-class scientific talent tackling some of the toughest challenges in medicine, and Sirius Biotech Ventures is a strong example of that. Companies like Sirius benefit from Maryland’s unique life sciences ecosystem — anchored by federal institutions such as the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and supported by leading academic partners and a highly skilled workforce. TEDCO is proud to help fuel this kind of innovation as it moves from the lab toward real solutions for cancer patients.”
About TEDCO
TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, enhances economic empowerment growth through the fostering of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology and life science-based companies in Maryland.
