ArsenalBio Secures $325M for Advancing Cell Therapy Clinical Development

Arsenal Biosciences, Inc. (ArsenalBio), a company at the forefront of programmable cell therapy for solid tumors, recently completed an oversubscribed Series C funding round, raising $325 million. This round attracted significant investment from new backers, including ARCH Venture Partners, Milky Way Investments Group, Regeneron Ventures, NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital branch), Luma Group, and funds managed by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and Rock Springs Capital. Continuing investors included the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI), SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Westlake Village BioPartners, Kleiner Perkins, Byers Capital, and Hitachi Ventures.

The capital raised will be utilized to advance ArsenalBio’s leading therapeutic programs, specifically focusing on the development of candidates targeting solid tumor cancers through innovative T cell engineering technology. This includes the use of logic gating, a method that enhances the specificity and effectiveness of the therapeutic T cells. Additionally, the funding will support the creation of new tools and processes for identifying novel cell therapy candidates, allowing the company to continue leading in the rapidly developing field of cell therapy. 

Ken Drazan, M.D., co-founder, CEO, and Chairman of ArsenalBio, stated, “Our early clinical trials and preclinical research have demonstrated the potential of our T cell engineering technology. This has encouraged us to extend the application of our technology to target a broader range of cancers.” He emphasized that the new funding would enable the company to follow its development plans, expand manufacturing capabilities, and invest in new innovations within T cell therapy.

ArsenalBio’s pipeline is robust, featuring potential treatments for ovarian, kidney, and prostate cancers, among other solid tumors. Some of these are being developed in collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. This financing round follows the company’s recent initiation of clinical trials for its second T cell product candidate, AB-2100, which is undergoing a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Notably, this candidate has received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which highlights its potential to address significant unmet medical needs.

Arsenal Biosciences, Inc., headquartered in South San Francisco, California, is dedicated to creating next-generation autologous T cell therapies to combat cancer. The company’s comprehensive R&D platform aims to produce multifunctional T cell treatments through precise CRISPR-mediated insertion of synthetic DNA sequences. ArsenalBio’s goal is to create the largest DNA library for potential therapeutic applications, incorporating logic gating to improve tumor targeting and synthetic properties that enable multiple pharmaceutical functions.

By pioneering a computationally driven approach alongside nonviral clinical manufacturing methods, ArsenalBio aspires to enhance treatment efficacy, improve patient safety, reduce costs for stakeholders, and broaden market access.

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