Bicycle Therapeutics, a Cambridge, England, UK-based biotechnology company advancing a new class of therapeutics based on its proprietary bicyclic peptide (Bicycle®) product platform, completed a £40m Series B funding.
The round was led by new investor Vertex Ventures HC with participation from new investors Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC) and Longwood Fund and existing investors Novartis Venture Fund, SROne, SVLS and Atlas Venture. As part of this financing, Dr. Christopher Shen, M.D., Managing Director at Vertex Ventures HC, and Dr. Michael Anstey, D.Phil., Investment Director at CIC, joined Bicycle’s Board of Directors.
The company intends to use the funds to further the development of multiple drug candidates, including Bicycle’s lead molecule, BT1718, and additional pipeline programs through early clinical development, the first of which will be selected in the second half of 2017.
Led by Dr. Kevin Lee, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Bicycle Therapeutics is developing novel medicines, Bicycles®, which can combine properties of several therapeutic entities in a single modality:
– exhibiting the affinity and selective pharmacology associated with antibodies;
– the distribution kinetics of small molecules, allowing rapid tumour penetration; and
– the “tuneable” pharmacokinetic half-life and renal clearance of peptides.
Bicycle’s lead molecule, BT1718, is the first example of its Bicycle Drug Conjugate® (BDC) technology, in which toxic chemical payloads are targeted specifically to malignant tumours, minimising systemic toxin exposure through renal clearance.
BT1718 targets Membrane Type 1 Matrix Metalloproteinase (MT1-MTP), which is highly expressed in many solid tumours, including triple negative breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.
It is expected to enter the clinic in 2017 in partnership with Cancer Research UK (CRUK).
The company also has a U.S. subsidiary in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
FinSMEs
01/06/2017