Abcuro, a biotechnology company in the clinical stage, focused on developing therapies that target autoimmune diseases and cancer via precise adjustments to cytotoxic T and NK cells, has reported the completion of a highly subscribed Series B financing round amounting to $155m.
This funding round was jointly led by Redmile Group and Bain Capital Life Sciences.
Furthermore, both new and existing investors participated in this financing endeavour. Notable participants include RA Capital Management, Samsara BioCapital, Sanofi Ventures, New Leaf Ventures, Pontifax, funds managed by Tekla Capital Management, LLC, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Mass General Brigham Ventures, Eurofarma, and Soleus Capital.
Abcuro CEO Alex Martin said: “Support from such a strong group of investors will allow us to complete our development programs in diseases where there are few to no treatment options available.
“We are very motivated by the patients we serve and are excited by the clinical data we’ve seen to date. We’re committed to executing on our clinical trials including our registrational trial in inclusion body myositis.”
The funds raised from the financing will be allocated by Abcuro for several key purposes. Primarily, they will support the advancement of a Phase 2/3 registrational clinical trial for ABC008. This groundbreaking monoclonal antibody is designed to target the killer cell lectin like receptor G1 (KLRG1) and is intended for the treatment of inclusion body myositis (IBM).
In addition, Abcuro aims to bring its focus to the successful completion of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial involving ABC008 for T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukaemia (T-LGLL). Furthermore, the company has plans to initiate a Phase 1/2 clinical trial centred around T and NK cell lymphomas. These efforts collectively demonstrate Abcuro’s commitment to advancing innovative treatments across various disease areas.
Abcuro chief medical officer H Jeffrey Wilkins said: “IBM, like other autoimmune diseases, is progressive and devastating for patients. Targeting the depletion of cytotoxic T cells that express KLRG1 with ABC008 is a novel approach that has generated exciting early data in patients with IBM.
“These data are also supportive of using ABC008 in other diseases like T-LGLL in which cytotoxic T cells are pathogenic, and mature T and NK cell lymphomas in which KLRG1 expressing cells are malignant. We look forward to further advancing these programs in the clinic.”