CytomX, a biotechnology company developing Probody™ therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, today announced the closing of a $70 million Series D financing round. The financing was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company with participation from Casdin Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, Deerfield Management, Perceptive Advisors, Redmile Group, Tekla Healthcare Investors and Tekla Life Sciences Investors, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, Wellington Management Company and additional undisclosed investors.
Proceeds from the financing will support the continued advancement of CytomX's pipeline of Probody therapeutics toward clinical studies, including a Precision™ cancer immunotherapy directed against PD-L1 and Probody™ drug conjugates against novel, first in class targets. The financing will also support the expansion of Probody research and development activities in the areas of T-cell agonists, bispecific antibodies and engineered T-cell therapies.
"Cancer immunotherapies and antibody drug conjugates are making a difference for many patients, but these drugs can be limited by severe systemic toxicities," said Sean McCarthy, D. Phil., chief executive officer of CytomX. "Probodies are designed to achieve localized activity with systemic dosing, thereby reducing toxicity and expanding the potential of these promising antibody therapeutic classes. This financing will enable us to continue rapid advancement of multiple Probodies into clinical development as we pursue our vision of transforming lives with safer, more effective therapies."
Hoyoung Huh, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of CytomX, added, "The Probody platform offers a disruptive technology for the next generation of antibody therapeutics. CytomX has advanced its platform rapidly and with impressive results, as seen in preclinical proof-of-concept data and through innovative collaborations with premier pharmaceutical partners. This new round of financing will help CytomX advance its maturing wholly owned pipeline of Probody therapeutics and continue to build a highly differentiated, long-term, multi-product company."
Study reveals how cancer cells evade chemotherapy in low-glucose environments