Scorpion Spinoff Secures $177M to Tackle 'Undruggable' Targets

A few months after Eli Lilly agreed to acquire Scorpion Therapeutics' PI3Kα inhibitor program in a deal that could reach up to $2.5 billion, the leadership team behind Scorpion has taken charge at Antares Therapeutics. Antares, a company spun out from Scorpion to focus on precision oncology, officially launched this week following a successful $177-million Series A funding round. Despite the initial success with its PI3Kα inhibitor, STX-478, Antares remains tight-lipped about its future projects.

The financing for Antares was led by Omega Funds, Atlas Venture, Lightspeed Venture Partners, BVF Partners, and Cormorant Asset Management, with additional investments from Vinyanshu Ventures, Abingworth, Invus, Tenmile, Vida Ventures, and Willett Advisors. The creation of Antares had been anticipated since the announcement of Scorpion's acquisition by Eli Lilly, which included plans to establish a new entity for Scorpion's non-PI3Kα assets. Eli Lilly has retained a minority stake in this new venture.

A spokesperson from Antares explained that the transaction process provided an opportunity to keep the effective team together and move forward with early-stage programs that hold the potential to be first-in-class. This arrangement allowed the company to deliver value to its long-term shareholders while continuing to build on its foundation of discovery and development.

Antares is focused on developing small molecules targeting what are often considered "undruggable" targets. However, details about their pipeline will remain undisclosed until at least next year. The spokesperson highlighted that the company’s discovery capabilities and proprietary development methods could be broadly applied. Though they have not revealed their initial disease target, internally the focus is on pursuing unique first-in-class targets or leveraging 'best-through-first' strategies for validated targets in cancer and other serious diseases where there is a significant unmet need.

Beyond its internal projects, Antares has a partnership with AstraZeneca to develop programs targeting transcription factors, a collaboration initiated in 2022 under a deal AstraZeneca made with Scorpion Therapeutics. Antares also announced that it has divested two other drug candidates. In 2023, Pierre Fabre Laboratories agreed to $65 million in upfront and near-term payments to co-develop two EGFR inhibitors, STX-721 and STX-241, originally discovered by Scorpion. These candidates are aimed at treating non-small-cell lung cancer. Pierre Fabre has now acquired global rights to these programs and will handle their clinical development and commercialization. Antares will remain eligible for regulatory and commercial milestones, in addition to receiving tiered royalties.

Antares Therapeutics emerges as a significant player in the industry, focusing on tackling difficult-to-target proteins with innovative drug development strategies in oncology and other critical areas of need. While keeping specific plans under wraps for now, the company’s strategic partnerships and financial backing position it well for future success. As Antares continues to build on its foundation, the biotech community is keenly watching for further announcements that could indicate its next moves in the field of precision oncology.