With one of biotech's largest private rounds in a year, ArriVent enters PhIII

27 Mar 2023
endpts.com
Phase 1Phase 3Phase 2
Bing Yao’s ArriVent Biopharma has amassed a $155 million oversubscribed Series B, crowning it as one of biotech’s largest private rounds in a year-long difficult financing environment. The proceeds will bankroll a global Phase III study of a drug already approved in China, help ArriVent in-license more molecules and expand the 40-person workforce by another 10 to 20 employees this year, including a chief financial officer. Yao, who hatched ArriVent after selling Viela Bio to Horizon two years ago, told Endpoints News the capital will last for a “number of years,” helping bring Phase III data to the table in early 2026. The new pool of money will also support the search for molecules either close to the clinic or early in their Phase I life, most likely honing in on solid tumors, the chair and CEO said. Beyond that, the scope widens: desired assets can be found in China (where its lead program derives from), Japan, South Korea, Europe or the US, with Big Pharma’s shelves also being eyed. The goal is to push it through global development on ArriVent’s own, the CEO said. The central focus right now is revving the engine on a late-stage, 100-site international study of furmonertinib , an EGFR-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor licensed from Allist Pharmaceuticals. The trial will investigate two doses of the drug against platinum-based chemotherapy as a frontline treatment for locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations. About 375 patients will be randomized evenly to receive either 240 mg or 160 mg of the tablet daily or chemotherapy. The team will have to catch up with J&J and Takeda, which each brought drugs targeting EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations to the US market in 2021 . Meanwhile, in the fourth quarter of 2022, Cullinan Oncology and partner Taiho Oncology started a potentially pivotal study of their drug candidate, zipalertinib , for patients who have progressed on prior systemic therapy. ArriVent is working on expanding the potential beyond exon 20, as well, Yao said. The brain penetrant drug is also in a Phase Ib study in patients with Stage 4 NSCLC with EGFR or HER2 mutations. The Newtown Square, PA-based startup also has a $100 million deal with Aarvik Therapeutics to create a new oncology drug candidate. Sofinnova Investments and General Catalyst led the round, which brought the fledgling biotech’s total cash haul above $300 million. Other investors include Catalio Capital Management, HBM Healthcare Investments, Shanghai Healthcare Capital and nearly a dozen other backers, including all existing ones, who contributed to the Series B. Sofinnova’s Jim Healy and OrbiMed’s Carl Gordon are joining the board.
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