GRPR

Alpha-9 Oncology has raised $175m in a Series C funding round to advance its pipeline of radiopharmaceuticals. Credit: eamesBot via Shutterstock. Alpha-9 Oncology is the latest radiopharma to raise funds, drawing in $175m in Series C financing, to advance its radiopharmaceutical candidates through clinical trials and expand its research and development (R&D) capabilities. Vancouver, Canada-based Alpha-9 shared that it will advance its pipeline of preclinical candidates to the “clinic-ready” stage. While the company has not disclosed which of its assets in particular will be advanced, the company has several preclinical programs targeting MC1R, PSMA, GRPR, CXCR4, and B1R, as per GlobalData’s Pharma Intelligence Center. In May 2024, Alpha-9 announced the dosing of the first patient in its Phase I study for the MC1R programme, dubbed A9-3202. This peptide-based radiopharmaceutical targets the melanocortin 1 receptor for imaging locally advanced or metastatic melanoma. The trial is evaluating A9-3202’s tumour uptake and distribution in normal tissue among participants with melanoma. This latest financing comes after a flood of investment into the radiopharma arena over the last few years. Earlier this month, Aktis Oncology raised $175m to support the development of its new radiopharmaceuticals, including a first-in-class Nectin-4-targeted miniprotein radioconjugate. Big pharma has jumped on the radiopharma train too, with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), Novartis , and Eli Lilly signing acquisition deals worth $4.2bn , $1.75bn , and $1.4bn, respectively. Alpha-9’s Series C – co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Ascenta Capital – builds on a $75m Series B in December 2022, and a $8.9m Series A in 2021, three years after the company spun-out from the University of British Columbia. Other participating investors in this round included a16z Bio + Health, RA Capital Management, Janus Henderson Investors and Samsara BioCapital. See Also: UPFs fuelling ‘alarming rise of chronic diseases’ in india FDA grants ODD to Modalis’ MDL-101 to treat LAMA2-CMD Alpha-9 said its funding will also support ongoing investments in its discovery capabilities, as well as the expansion of manufacturing and isotope supply partnerships. The company recently completed the construction of a manufacturing facility in Vancouver, Canada. Last month, Telix Pharmaceuticals paid $230m upfront to acquire US-based radioisotope manufacturer RLS Radiopharmacies to expand its manufacturing footprint in the US. Venture financing for innovative radiopharmaceutical drugs has witnessed an approximately 550% increase from $63m in 2017 to $408m in 2023 YTD (year-to-date) total deal value in the US, according to GlobalData’s Pharma Intelligence Center Deals Database. GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology. In the announcement accompanying the financing, Alpha-9’s CEO David Hirsch said: “Over the last few years, Alpha-9 has built a leading radiopharmaceutical company with a deep pipeline and robust infrastructure.”

Another private radiopharmaceutical biotech has raised big money. Alpha-9 Oncology revealed on Wednesday that it’s put together a $175 million Series C, aiming to fund clinical trials for programs that are ready to be tested in humans and to advance preclinical candidates to the “clinic-ready” stage. The raise highlights the continuation of a strong interest in radiopharmaceuticals from large pharma companies, startups and venture capital. Alpha-9’s $175 million raise matches a Series B by Aktis Oncology last month, with multiple firms contributing to both rounds. It’s not immediately clear which of Alpha-9’s programs are expected to enter the clinic with the new fundraise. Execs previously told Endpoints News in 2022 that the company had five programs going after the cancer targets PSMA, MC1R, CXCR4, B1R and GRPR, with the PSMA program furthest along. But this past May, Alpha-9 announced the first patient had been dosed in a Phase 1 study for the MC1R program, called A9-3202. That trial is researching the compound’s effect in locally advanced or metastatic melanoma. Alpha-9 hasn’t previously announced any other trial launches, and a company spokesperson would only say that “multiple programs” have entered the clinic since the Series B. Wednesday’s financing was co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Ascenta Capital. Other participating investors included a16z Bio + Health, RA Capital Management, Janus Henderson Investors and Samsara BioCapital.

Today, a brief rundown of news from PTC Therapeutics, Esperion Therapeutics and Coherus Biosciences, as well as updates from Sanofi, Lantheus Holdings and Forbion that you may have missed.Drug regulators in Europe have, for a third time, recommended against renewing the approval of PTC TherapeuticsDuchenne muscular dystrophy medicine Translarna. The European Medicines Agency panel had been asked to re-evaluate PTCs application after the European Commission, in an unusual step, rejected its recommendation and suggested it consider data from patient registries and real-world use. That evidence still doesnt prove Translarna is effective, the panel said Friday. PTC will again seek another opinion, during which time Translarna will remain on the market in Europe. Ben FidlerEsperion Therapeutics said Friday it has sold rights to sales royalties in Europe for its cholesterol-lowering pill bempedoic acid to Omers Life Sciences for $305 million.Omers will own those royalties until its received 1.7-times its initial investment, after which Esperion will reclaim rights. Esperion will use some of the proceeds to pay off a loan from Oberland Capital, and is still eligible to receive up to $300 million in sales-based milestone payments under a licensing deal with Daiichi Sankyo. Jonathan GardnerCoherus BioSciences is selling rights to Yusimry, a biosimilar version of Humira, to Hong Kong King-Friend Industrial for $40 million in cash. The biosimilaris the second Coherus has divested this year as part of a plan to focus its business on branded cancer drugs. It won U.S. approval for its first, a cancer immunotherapy called Loqtorzi, in 2023. Jonathan GardnerSanofi is investing $40 million in Vigil Neuroscience, a biotech developing drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. The deal gives Sanofi an exclusive right of first negotiation to license from Vigil an experimental antibody aimed at the protein TREM2. Vigil has one such medicine in early-stage testing for Alzheimers disease treatment. The biotech, which went public in 2022but has lost much of its value since, said the deal will extend its cash runway into 2026. Gwendolyn WuLantheus Holdings, a developer of radiopharmaceutical drugs and diagnostics, paid $35 million to acquire rights to what it calls a radiotheranostic pair from Life Molecular Imaging. The pair consists of a lutetium-based treatment and a gallium-based diagnostic for prostate cancer, both aimed at the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor. Discovered at the Universities Bern and Basel, the pair was initially developed by Bayer and then licensed to Life Molecular. Lantheus plans to start a Phase 1/2a study of the radiopharmaceutical next year, with the gallium-based agent used as a companion diagnostic. Ned PagliaruloEuropean venture capital firm Forbion has hired former Dyne Therapeutics CEO Josh Brumm to help expand its presence in the U.S. Brumm will serve as a general partner and support Forbions current portfolio companies as well as source new opportunities in the U.S. and Europe, the firm said Thursday. Though Forbion is based in the Netherlands, about 30% of its investments are in the U.S. and Canada. Gwendolyn Wu '