ImaginAb, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company that engineers antibodies into smaller protein formats optimized for in vivo molecular imaging, announced today the completion of a $21M Series B financing of the company, led by Mérieux Développement and syndicated with Novartis Venture Funds, Cycad Group and Nextech Invest.
Dr. Christian Behrenbruch, co-founder and CEO of ImaginAb commented, "We have made excellent progress with our programs in cancer and immunology, and we are pleased to have concluded this round of growth capital to accelerate the development of IAB2M, our lead program in prostate cancer, and continue to expand our product pipeline."
"ImaginAb's prostate cancer imaging program has demonstrated impressive clinical data. We are convinced that ImaginAb's IAB2M PSMA PET imaging agent has the potential to transform the management of high-risk patients for surgical staging and biochemical recurrence," stated Valérie Calenda, Partner at Mérieux Développement. "The sensitivity and specificity of an antibody fragment approach also has the potential to change the way we understand occult disease, for example the non-metastatic, or 'M0,' patient population in castrate-resistant prostate cancer."
Dr. Abbie Celniker, Chair of the Board of ImaginAb also commented, "In addition to the Company's progress in imaging prostate cancer, ImaginAb is developing antibody-fragment based imaging of CD8+ T cells. Molecular imaging has the power to inform many cancer immunotherapy strategies around important targets such as PD-1/L1 and CTLA-4, which require innovative ways of measuring and monitoring immune response."
ImaginAb's pipeline of imaging agents for prostate, pancreatic and ovarian cancer have the potential to redefine the staging and management of diseases that currently face significant challenges in clinical practice. The Company's CD3 and CD8 "immunoPET" imaging programs deliver a clearer understanding of the role of immune function and response in a variety of disease settings, including cancer and autoimmune diseases. ImaginAb's internal product pipeline is augmented by approximately 30 collaborations with global pharmaceutical companies for a variety of cancer, immune/inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease targets.
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