Armo BioSciences, Inc., a Redwood City, Calif.-based late-stage immuno-oncology company, completed a $67m Series C-1 funding.
The round was led by new investor Qiming Venture Partners with participation from new investors Decheng Capital, Sequoia Capital, Quan Capital and RTW Investments and existing investors Kleiner Perkins (KP), OrbiMed, DAG Ventures, NanoDimension, HBM Healthcare Investments, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Celgene Corporation, and certain private investment funds advised by Clough Capital Partners L.P. In conjunction with the financing, Stella Xu, Ph.D. of Quan Capital and Min Cui, Ph.D. of Decheng Capital joined Armo’s board of directors.
The company intends to use the funds to initiate phase 2/3 studies with its lead immunotherapy agent AM0010 in non-small cell lung cancer and renal cell cancer and to support an ongoing pivotal phase 3 clinical trial in advanced pancreatic cancer. The proceeds will also support the further development of Armo’s pipeline of additional immunotherapy product candidates that include monoclonal antibodies directed against checkpoint inhibitors.
The company’s proprietary anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody is on track to enter the clinic in 2018 and its anti-LAG-3 monoclonal antibody is advancing in preclinical development.
Led by Peter Van Vlasselaer, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Amro is a late-stage immuno-oncology company that is developing a pipeline of novel, proprietary products that activate the immune system of cancer patients to recognize and eradicate tumors.
The company’s lead product candidate, AM0010 (pegilodecakin), stimulates the survival, expansion and killing (cytotoxic) potential of a particular type of white blood cell in the immune system called CD8+ T cells. CD8+ T cells recognize and kill cancer cells and an increased presence of intra-tumoral CD8+ T cells may result in improved prognosis and survival in patients.
In addition, ARMO is developing an immuno-oncology pipeline that includes validated product candidates such as an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody, aimed at treating a variety of cancers in combination with standard of care treatments and emerging immunotherapies.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Commission (EC) have granted AM0010 Orphan Drug designation for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
The FDA also granted Fast Track designation for AM0010 in combination with FOLFOX as second-line therapy in patients with pancreatic cancer.
FinSMEs
30/08/2017