Additional EUR 32.5 million will support clinical readiness and accelerate lead immuno-virotherapy candidates toward clinical proof-of-concept.
Düsseldorf – Abalos Therapeutics announces an extension to its Series A funding round bringing the total raised in this round to EUR 43 million (USD 50 million). The extension was led by Seventure Partners with support from Coparion, Ventura BioMed Investors and Hx Bio Ventures as well as contributions from existing investors from the initial Series A round including Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), Gründerfonds Ruhr, NRW.BANK and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF). The financing underscores the potential of Abalos’ differentiated immuno-virotherapy approach to generate a maximal immune response specifically targeted against a patient’s cancer and its etastases. The proceeds will enable the company to advance its first product candidate into a Phase 1/2 trial in multiple solid tumors including the expansion cohorts to demonstrate early signs of clinical efficacy as well as fund further pipeline expansion.
“Since the closing of our initial Series A financing round, we have achieved significant progress in the development of our product candidates and built a leadership team of drug development and immuno-oncology experts that support our goal of bringing this unique therapeutic modality to cancer patients,” said Dr. Marcus Kostka, CEO of Abalos Therapeutics. “We value this commitment from our new and current investors that will enable our lead arenavirus-based program to enter clinical evaluation with the goal of establishing clinical proof of concept.”
Abalos was launched in October 2019 to advance a technology platform that harnesses the unique features of the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), which specifically targets tumor cells. Through its proprietary Fast Evolution Platform, Abalos is generating variants with optimized anti-tumoral properties to trigger a highly precise and directed immune response that can be utilized for distant metastases and enable long-term disease control.
In conjunction with the closing of the Series A financing round extension, Annegret de Baey from Seventure Partners and Sebastian Pünzeler from Coparion will join Abalos’ Supervisory Board.
A team led by Prof. Dr. Hans-Eric Rasmussen-Bonne at the Berlin office provided comprehensive legal advice to Abalos Therapeutics. In the drafting and negotiation of the contract, the focus was on financing-related issues and, in particular, on further securing the rights to the technology. Since its foundation, the Weitnauer team has also advised Abalos Therapeutics on the legal aspects of its operating business, in particular on the negotiation and drafting of technology-relevant cooperation and licensing agreements, on labor law issues and on corporate housekeeping.
About Abalos Therapeutics
Abalos Therapeutics has harnessed the unique immune stimulation of the arenavirus to develop a novel anti-cancer approach that provides the full breadth of the immune system’s power specifically against cancer cells. Through viral replication within cancer cells, Abalos’ arenavirus-based drug candidates are designed to awake precise innate and adaptive immune responses and activate all relevant immune cell types against primary tumors and metastases. Led by experienced biotech entrepreneurs and immunology pioneers, Abalos’ goal is to achieve a quantum leap in immuno-oncology.
Weitnauer team:
Prof. Dr. Hans-Eric Rasmussen-Bonne, LL.M. (Lead, VC, Corporate/Berlin)
Andreas Michael, LL.M. (VC, Corporate/Berlin)
Cornelius Wilke (VC, Corporate/Berlin)
Weiterlesen