Radiant Biotherapeutics, Inc.

An antibody drug is only as good as its ability to connect to its target. Sometimes a mutation at the binding point enables the target to escape, says Art Fratamico, CEO of startup Radiant Biotherapeutics. In other cases, the antibody might just fall off. Either way, without a strong connection to its target, a drug does not work. Radiant’s technology imbues an antibody with more chances to bind to its target and maintain a connection. The startup is preclinical but it already has two big pharma partners and financial backing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Radiant recently unveiled $35 million in financing to advance its research in cancer and infectious disease. In oncology, the company faces competition from other biotech companies also developing souped-up antibodies. Radiant aims to show how its approach could offer an edge. A traditional monoclonal antibody is shaped like the letter “Y” with two arms called fragment antigen binding (Fab) fragments, regions that bind to a target antigen. Radiant, which splits its operations between Toronto and Philadelphia, is developing antibodies that are multivalent — they bind to more than one target. Whereas a traditional antibody has two Fabs, Radiant’s engineered antibodies have 24. The company calls its drugs Multabodies. With the ability for a Multabody to bind to more than one target, Fratamico says Radiant’s drugs can do things traditional antibodies can’t achieve. For one, these drugs offer better avidity, or binding strength, to their targets. Sponsored Post What Healthcare Can Learn from Costco The path forward is clear: employers must evaluate their health plan the same way they do their Saturday shopping excursion. By Jeff Bak, Imagine360 CEO and President “I have multiple binding points, so once I grab it, it’s a better grip if you will,” Fratamico said. “With that comes improvement in efficacy and potency.” Radiant’s technology is based on research from Jean-Philippe Julien, a senior scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto and an associate professor in the department of immunology at the University of Toronto, and Bebhinn Treanor, a professor in the department of biological sciences at the U of T. Julien’s research focuses on antibody engineering. Fratamico said Julien was researching a multi-valent, multi-specific antibody platform. This platform is modular, enabling scientists to quickly find out early on in the drug discovery process whether a molecule is achieving the desired effect. At Radiant, this modular approach results in the company using the same scaffold, but placing Fabs on them from different antibodies to quickly test them to find which one to advance. Julien aimed to develop treatments for infectious disease in underserved parts of the world. That research focus led to interactions with the Gates Foundation, which provided funding for his Covid-19 research. The foundation has interest in Radiant’s technology for potency improvement, Fratamico said. With Radiant’s platform, a molecule can go after multiple binding domains to deliver that improved potency. This capability could lead to antivirals capable of addressing elusive targets, such as HIV. The binding sites of this virus mutate, enabling it to escape traditional antibody approaches. “With a Multabody, because we’re holding on, if there’s a mutation we’re still holding on and clearing virus,” Fratamico said. Sponsored Post The Future of Hospitals and Pharma Companies Will Depend on Strength of Healthcare Analytics Insights PurpleLab® stands out from others in this sector by providing its data analytics services to several different groups of users across healthcare and pharma companies. By pcallaghan The HIV research is supported by $2 million in grant funding awarded by the Gates Foundation late last year. Much of Radiant’s new financing will support lead program 4-1BB, which takes its name from the receptor it is targeting on activated T cells and natural killer cells. Activating this receptor increases effector function, which is the way an immune cell interacts with a target of interest, Fratamico said. This increased function expands the cell and increases its ability to kill target cells. It also improves the function of immune cells that are exhausted. Targeting and activating the 4-1BB receptor has been difficult to do safely and effectively with traditional antibodies. Earlier drug research efforts for this target stumbled in clinical trials due to either low efficacy or severe liver toxicity. Newer R&D efforts targeting 4-1BB with bispecific antibodies have reached early clinical development. Pieris Pharmaceuticals, I-Mab, and Aptevo Therapeutics are among the companies developing bispecifics. BioNTech’s acasunlimab combines PD-L1 checkpoint inhibition with 4-1BB stimulation. This drug candidate, made with antibody technologies from partner Genmab, is in Phase 1 testing for solid tumors. Fratamico said a bispecific drug that addresses PD-L1 depends on a cancer to express that protein. Some cancers have high expression of that protein while others have low expression, which could lead to challenges in achieving efficacy. By contrast, a Multabody would not rely on PD-L1 expression to treat cancer. Radiant’s Multabody for cancer is monospecific — it only goes after 4-1BB. But it goes after that receptor with multiple Fabs. Fratamico said Radiant’s strategy is to demonstrate the company’s technology in the known biology of 4-1BB in a way that offers a first- or best-in-class approach. In time, Radiant could expand by developing drugs antibodies that offer multiple functions. “As we continue to show the benefit of the platform, and it matures, then we’re open and wanting to take on more biology risk,” he said. Radiant was formed in 2020 by Amplitude Ventures. In 2023, the startup emerged from stealth with $8 million in seed funding from Amplitude and two undisclosed big pharmaceutical company partners. Radiant has since revealed that those partners are GSK and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, though the disease focus of each alliance remains undisclosed. Fratamico said he is not actively seeking more partners because the opportunity for Radiant to create value is by advancing its internal pipeline. The goal is to bring the 4-1BB program into the clinic in 2026. But Fratamico added that the startup could be open to new partnerships that offer the opportunity to create additional validation for Radiant’s technology and also bring non-dilutive funding. The Gates Foundation and Amplitude co-led Radiant’s Series A financing. Other participants include new investors BDC Capital; the investment arm of the Business Development Bank of Canada, through its Thrive Venture Fund; and abrdn plc of Edinburgh, Scotland. Earlier investors FACIT, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners also participated.

TORONTO & PHILADELPHIA--( BUSINESS WIRE )-- Radiant Biotherapeutics , a preclinical biotechnology company developing an antibody platform to deliver transformative therapies for patients facing life-changing disease, announced it has closed a $35 million Series A financing. The round is co-led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Amplitude Ventures of Canada. Additional participants in the Series A include new investors BDC Capital , the investment arm of the Business Development Bank of Canada, through its Thrive Venture Fund, and abrdn, an investment fund managed by abrdn Inc.; and existing investors FACIT , Alexandria Venture Investments and Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (TIAP). Radiant has built a best-in-class, proprietary, multi-valent, multi-specific antibody platform called Multabody™. The funds will enable Radiant to further develop the company’s lead clinical candidate, 4-1BB, and move it towards clinical trials. “These supportive investors share our vision of delivering powerful, multi-functional biologics with the potential to advance treatments for patients suffering from debilitating and life-threatening illnesses,” said Arthur J. Fratamico, President and CEO of Radiant. “This investment enables us to further demonstrate the unique power and breadth of our platform across multiple therapeutic areas with a focus in oncology, inflammation and immunology, and global health and infectious disease including HIV.” Multabody™ therapeutics are able to overcome the shortcomings of existing antibody approaches by leveraging remarkable avidity, or binding strength, on their intended targets. Multabodies also exploit multi-specificity, enabling targeting of different disease-modifying proteins as well as multiple epitopes on the same target. Together, these qualities give Multabody™ therapeutics exceptional potency against both solid tumors and blood cancers, infectious disease pathogens, and other targets in multiple therapeutic areas. “This financing will enable the next stage in Radiant’s growth and move the company towards the clinic as it continues to demonstrate the superiority of the Multabody™ platform against therapeutic targets that cannot be treated with traditional antibodies,” said Bharat Srinivasa, Ph.D., principal at Amplitude Ventures. “We are investing to accelerate Radiant’s transition to clinical stage and to expand its pipeline in additional therapeutic areas.” Radiant Biotherapeutics was founded in 2020 and is built around foundational science developed at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto and the University of Toronto , based on and including work performed at the laboratories of Jean-Philippe Julien, Ph.D., senior scientist at SickKids and associate professor at University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine , and Bebhinn Treanor, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Toronto. The company emerged from stealth mode in 2023 following a seed investment led by Amplitude Ventures, FACIT, TIAP and Alexandria Venture Investments. Radiant maintains offices in Toronto and Philadelphia. About Radiant Biotherapeutics Radiant Biotherapeutics is a revolutionary antibody platform company leading the new frontier of multi-valent, multi-specific therapeutics to deliver transformative therapies for patients. Radiant’s proprietary Multabody™ platform leverages avidity and multi-specificity simultaneously, to generate highly efficacious Multabodies with superior potency than other antibody platforms. These powerful Multabodies are a new class of biologics positioned to tackle complex, heterogenous diseases such as cancer, that often have challenging targets and mechanisms. Multabody™ production and manufacturing is flexible, modular and scalable, and leverages standard antibody CMC processes. The groundbreaking efficiency of the platform is driving a novel pipeline of mono-, bi- and tri-specific biologics in multiple therapeutics areas. With offices in Toronto and Philadelphia, Radiant has forged multiple strategic partnerships that validate the Multabody™ platform’s broad scientific and clinical utility. For more, visit radiantbio.com . About Amplitude Ventures Amplitude Ventures is a full-stack venture capital firm using a unique growth model to build companies with world-class management teams and to scale companies to breakout potential. With more than $500 million in assets under management and offices in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, Amplitude applies a proven, evidence-based approach to investing in leading precision medicine companies. Visit http://amplitudevc.com to learn more.

Breakthrough platform creating multi-valent and multi-specific biotherapeutics with broad transformative applications Building innovative internal pipeline in oncology TORONTO, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Radiant Biotherapeutics, a revolutionary antibody platform company developing multi-valent, multi-specific therapeutics emerged from stealth mode unveiling an $8 million seed financing and two significant pharmaceutical partnerships. The Company, based on foundational IP from the labs of Dr. Jean-Philippe Julien at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and Dr. Bebhinn Treanor at the University of Toronto, was created by Amplitude Ventures which also led the seed round along with launch partner, SickKids and additional investors Alexandria Investments, FACIT and Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (TIAP). “This financing enables us to advance and validate our Multabody platform among several oncology programs with potential best-in-class pro ” said Arthur J. Fratamico, President and Chief Executive Officer of Radiant. “We are maximizing the potential of the Multabody platform by building a pipeline of candidates in our therapeutic areas of focus and pursuing additional research collaborations outside of those areas. The interest we received from potential partners to date is significant, resulting in two undisclosed collaborations with global pharma partners.” Radiant’s Multabody platform exploits avidity - stronger binding power - coupled with multi-specificity to deliver highly efficacious antibodies with exceptional potency extending beyond today’s antibody technologies to overcome the limitations of current approaches. This innovative platform has demonstrated the potential to deliver a new class of multi-functional biologics to tackle complex and diverse diseases, including cancer, autoimmune conditions and infectious diseases. Built on an antibody framework, the Multabody retains monoclonal antibody-like developability and pharmacokinetics, creating a truly superior next-generation therapeutic. “Radiant’s first-of-its-kind Multabody platform has the potential to transform antibody therapeutics,” said Bharat Srinivasa, founding CEO and Principal at Amplitude Ventures. “The Radiant team is showcasing their ability to rapidly develop Multabodies – from concept to in vivo POC within six months while demonstrating superior potency and efficacy to current antibodies and leveraging existing manufacturing processes. This proprietary platform has exciting potential to also create unique therapies targeting biological pathways not amenable to current antibody approaches.” About Radiant Biotherapeutics Radiant Biotherapeutics is a revolutionary antibody platform company leading the new frontier of multi-valent, multi-specific therapeutics to deliver transformative therapies for patients. The proprietary Multabody platform leverages avidity and multi-specificity simultaneously, to generate highly efficacious Multabodies with superior potency than other antibody platforms. These powerful Multabodies have potential to deliver a new class of biologics to tackle complex, heterogenous diseases, such as cancer, that often have challenging targets and mechanisms. Multabody production and manufacturing is flexible, modular and scalable, and leverages standard antibody CMC processes. The groundbreaking efficiency of the platform is driving a novel pipeline of mono-, bi- and tri-specific biologics in multiple therapeutics areas. Strategic partnerships with two leading biopharmaceutical companies validate the platform and its broad scientific and clinical utility. For more, visit radiantbio.com. About the University of Toronto (U of T) Founded in 1827, the University of Toronto is Canada’s leading institution of learning, discovery and knowledge. U of T is one of the world’s leading research-intensive universities, driven to invent and innovate. It is also one of the top five universities in the world for startup incubator programs. In the last 10 years, the U of T entrepreneurship community has created more than 600 companies and raised over $2.5 billion in investment capital. About The Hospital for Sick Children The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is recognized as one of the world’s foremost paediatric health-care institutions and is Canada’s leading centre dedicated to advancing children’s health through the integration of patient care, research and education. Founded in 1875 and affiliated with the University of Toronto, SickKids is one of Canada’s most research-intensive hospitals and has generated discoveries that have helped children globally. Its mission is to provide the best in complex and specialized family-centered care; pioneer scientific and clinical advancements; share expertise; foster an academic environment that nurtures health-care professionals; and champion an accessible, comprehensive and sustainable child health system. SickKids is a founding member of Kids Health Alliance, a network of partners working to create a high quality, consistent and coordinated approach to paediatric health care that is centered around children, youth and their families. SickKids is proud of its vision for Healthier Children. A Better World. Media Contact Tony Plohoros 6 Degrees 908.591.2839 tplohoros@6degreespr.com