Numab Therapeutics AG

Bambusa’s lead candidate BBT001 is being investigated for dermatologic indications. Credit: kirisa99 via Getty Images. US-based startup Bambusa Therapeutics has secured $90m in Series A financing to advance its pipeline of bispecific antibodies for immunological and inflammatory disorders into the clinic. The funding round was led by RA Capital Management, with participation from Janus Henderson Investors, Redmile Group, Invus, and ADAR1 Capital Management, as well as existing investors. Bambusa was launched in May 2024 and previously raised $15m in seed financing, which closed in September 2024. That round was co-led by BVF Partners and KKR’s Dawn Biopharma, with additional backing from Salvia GmbH and INCE Capital. The company is being led by founder and CEO Shanshan Xu, who was previously vice president for external innovations at BioNTech. The company’s pipeline includes four bispecific antibody candidates, with two programmes – BBT001 and BBT002 – set to enter the clinic later on in 2025. BBT001 is being investigated for dermatologic indications and is expected to enter a Phase I trial (NCT06808477) by the end of March. The trial aims to enrol 98 healthy volunteers and adult patients with atopic dermatitis. BBT002, designed for respiratory, dermatology, and gastroenterology indications, has completed preclinical studies and is slated to enter human trials by mid-2025. Bambusa describes BBT002 as a “platform in a molecule,” with potential applications across multiple inflammatory disease areas. Bambusa’s additional candidates, BBT003 and BBT004, are in earlier stages of development. BBT003 is being developed for inflammatory bowel disease, while BBT004 is focused on rheumatology. The company has not shared timelines for these programmes but describes them as having “best-in-disease” potential. In the announcement accompanying the funding, RA Capital partner Derek DiRocco said: “The next wave of therapeutics for patients with immunology and inflammation disorders will be both more efficacious and convenient than currently available options. “The Bambusa Therapeutics pipeline fits this profile, as their half-life extended bispecific antibodies were designed to target complementary disease-driving signalling pathways, affording the potential for a best-in-disease profile for patients.” The bispecific antibody market is one that is already crowded. It has seen increasing investment from pharmaceutical companies looking to expand their immunology and inflammation portfolios. In August 2024, MSD announced plans to acquire a CD3 and CD19-targeting T cell engager bispecific antibody, CN201, from Curon Biopharmaceutical. The deal is worth approximately $1.3bn in upfront and milestone-based payments. In May 2024, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) paid $1.25bn to acquire global rights for Numab Therapeutics’ IL-4R and IL-31-targeting bispecific antibody.

CHF 50 Million extension round co-led by Cormorant Asset Management, with participation from other existing investors Proceeds will be used to support the advancement of multiple first-in-class and best-in-class programs into clinical development Jan. 09, 2025 -- Numab Therapeutics AG (“Numab”), a clinical stage biotechnology company advancing a proprietary pipeline of multi-specific antibodies in immunology and oncology, announced today the closing of an oversubscribed CHF 50 million (approximately USD 55 million) Series C extension, bringing the total Series C to CHF 180 million. The financing was co-led by Cormorant Asset Management, Forbion via its Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund, HBM Healthcare Investment, and Novo Holdings, with participation from other existing investors BVF Partners L.P., Octagon Capital Advisors LP, RTW Investments, and funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. “We believe that Numab’s modular platform and engineering expertise in designing multi-specific antibodies with predictable stability, yield, and good CMC characteristics have significant advantages. We also believe multi-specific antibodies have the advantage of more efficient clinical trial design. We are excited to continue to support the team as they identify and pursue the best rational biological combinations for their platform”, said Bihua Chen, Founder and CEO of Cormorant Asset Management. “Throughout 2024, we made tremendous progress with our pipeline and business development efforts, including the acquisition of Numab’s spin-out Yellow Jersey Therapeutics by Johnson & Johnson for $1.25 billion”, said David Urech, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Numab Therapeutics. “We are delighted to start the year by strengthening our financial position with the support of this strong group of investors who share our vision and conviction in the strength of Numab’s unique λ-CapTM and MATCHTM technology platforms and our regional partnering strategy that allows us to de-risk development of our proprietary pipeline.” Proceeds from the financing will be used to accelerate and further advance Numab’s pipeline of clinical and pre-clinical best-in-class and first-in-class multi-specific antibodies in inflammation and oncology. Numab Therapeutics AG is a clinical-stage company developing multi-specific antibody-based immunotherapies for inflammation and cancer. Reproducible plug-and-play therapeutic design process using proprietary platforms λ-CapTM and MATCHTM puts Numab in a unique position to overcome historical drug discovery barriers and build a pipeline of new and important medicines aimed to maximize patient benefits. Numab’s diverse research pipeline spans multiple therapeutic areas and creates the opportunity for the next generation of first-in-class and best-in-class medicines. Our lead asset, NM32, a first-in-class half-life-enhanced T-cell engager targeting ROR1, a tumor associated antigen with broad expression in solid tumors and hematological malignancies, is currently in Phase 1 trial in patients with solid tumors. Numab’s partnerships with multiple leading pharma companies continue to validate the robust proprietary platform and development capabilities. For further information, visit https://www.numab.com. The content above comes from the network. if any infringement, please contact us to modify.

Plus, news about RheumaGen and RyboDyn: Numab Therapeutics brings in $55M: The Swiss biotech extended its Series C, originally disclosed in 2021 , by CHF 50 million. The round now totals CHF 180 million ($197 million). Last year, Johnson & Johnson bought a Numab spinout called Yellow Jersey Therapeutics. The startup has inked multiple partnerships over the years with Kaken, Ono and others. — Kyle LaHucik AnaCardio raises $19M for heart failure pill: The Swedish biotech extended its Series A round , bringing the total raised to SEK 355 million ($32 million). It said it will put the cash from investors like Novo Holdings toward an ongoing Phase 1b/2a trial of its oral ghrelin receptor agonist in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. AC01 was licensed from Helsinn in 2022, and a Phase 2b study is planned. — Elizabeth Cairns Colorado gene editing startup gets $15M: RheumaGen’s focus is editing the human leukocyte antigen to develop cell and gene therapies for autoimmune diseases. It plans to use its Series A toward an early-stage study of a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. The financing was led by SPRIM Global Investments and William Taylor Nominees. — Lei Lei Wu RyboDyn gets $4M to investigate the “dark proteome”: The biotech’s pre-seed round is expected to fund development of cancer immunotherapies using RyboCypher, its sequencing and bioinformatics platform, to work on non-coding DNA. Some of these regions can, in fact, encode proteins that are exclusively expressed in cancer cells, the company said. — Elizabeth Cairns