Orum Therapeutics, a biotech business, said Wednesday it had received $8 million in funds for its efforts to create new cancer drugs.

Three venture capital firms -- InterVest, KB Investment (KBIC)/Solidus Investment, and LB investment – will help finance Orum’s development of cell-penetrating antibody technology used to create new anti-cancer therapeutics.

“The financing will support our first program in oncology targeting activated RAS protein, a highly validated cancer drug target involved in aggressive types of cancer,” said Lee Sung-joo, CEO and co-founder of Orum.

Orum published a paper in Nature Communications last month about its developments in RAS-protein targeting antibodies to combat cancer agents. Mutations commonly found in cancers stem from continuously activated RAS proteins which control cell growth, differentiation, and survival. Although the critical role of RAS in cancer mutations had been found 35 years ago, efforts to find a drug to control the protein have been unsuccessful.

However, Orum remains dedicated to finding novel therapeutics to find an active anti-cancer drug, the company said.

“The recent publication supported further development of our cell-penetrating antibodies as an anti-cancer agent," Lee said. “We believe our technology can create the first-in-class RAS-targeted therapeutic antibody for pancreatic, colon and non-small cell lung cancers with RAS mutations.”

The company also announced an addition to its board of directors of Dr. Yeo Jung-moon, investment division director at Intervest.

“We were impressed with Orum’s cell-penetrating antibody platform, which can transform antibodies to effectively target undruggable cytosolic targets, without chemical conjugation and with target cell specificity,” Yoo said. “We look forward to providing our expertise and guidance as the company creates new treatments for cancer and rare diseases.”