BioTheryX is continuing to rake in investor capital, netting a fresh $92 million Series E round on Thursday.
The San Diego-based company noted it will fund at least two specific programs in its announcement: BTX-A51 and BTX-1188. The former, BioTheryX’s lead candidate, is a multi-kinase inhibitor looking at p53 protein modulation in acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome and solid tumors. BTX-A51 is currently in a Phase I trial for r/r AML.
BTX-1188, meanwhile, is what the company calls a PHM-based PROTAC and monovalent degrader. It’s in the IND-enabling phase, with goals for hematological malignancies and solid tumors.
“With this financing, we are well positioned to execute our plans to bring our first molecular glue program BTX-1188 into the clinic by the end of 2021, expand our platform of molecular glues, PROTACs and monovalent degraders and progress our lead program BTX-A51 through Phase I,” CEO Robert Williamson said in a statement.
Farallon Capital Management led the round, and BioTheryX saw other participation from Avidity Partners, Deep Track Capital, Janus Henderson, Lumira, Point72, Rock Springs Capital, Surveyor Capital, Tekla Capital Management, Alexandria Venture Investors and existing investors. — Max Gelman
WuXi Biologics ups its stake in an emerging ADC player
Less than a year and a half after launching, Duality Biologics is already back at the venture well, this time pulling up a hefty $90 million Series B round.
The startup says it’s working on a next-gen ADC platform, and has already raised more than $120 million to date. WuXi Biologics, which contributed to the Series A, upped its stake this time around.
“ADC has emerged as an exciting therapeutic modality which attracts increasing investment from pharmaceuticals and ventures,” WuXi CEO Chris Chen said in a statement.
DualityBio, as it’s also called, is focused on developing ADCs and bispecific antibodies for oncology and autoimmune diseases. It says it has several preclinical candidates in the works.
The Series B round was led by Lilly Asia Ventures, with a hand from YUNION Healthcare Fund, Huagai Capital, NRL Capital, Green Pine Capital Partners, and Oriza Holdings.
“Within just over one year, DualityBio has not only established a world-class team with deep industry insights and excellent execution capabilities, but also forged a globally competitive drug development platform with a very strong pipeline,” said Yi Shi, founding managing partner of LAV. — Nicole DeFeudis