Startups, BioPharma

Immunotherapy startup CytomX raises $70M; IPO on horizon

The Bay Area immunotherapy player targets PD-L1 and "Probody" drug conjugates. It'll use the $70 million to advance several candidates into the clinic.

Bay Area biotech CytomX Therapeutics closed out a $70 million Series D for its “Probody” work in cancer immunotherapy and antibody drug conjugates. An IPO is likely on the horizon, as Fierce Biotech points out:

CytomX CEO Sean McCarthy is quick to acknowledge that a company like his, working to build a pipeline of partnered and in-house therapeutics, is going to look to the public markets at some stage. Just don’t ask him when.

“We’re not commenting on timing,” he says flatly, when pressed on the IPO scenario.

The financing, which comes on the heels of a $20 million Series C led by Pfizer, targets PD-L1 and “Probody” drug conjugates that treat undisclosed indications. The company will also expand R&D in the areas of T-cell agonists, bispecific antibodies and engineered T-cell therapies.

“Cancer immunotherapies and antibody drug conjugates are making a difference for many patients, but these drugs can be limited by severe systemic toxicities,” CytomX CEO Sean McCarthy said in a statement. “Probodies are designed to achieve localized activity with systemic dosing, thereby reducing toxicity and expanding the potential of these promising antibody therapeutic classes.

The new round comes from Fidelity Management & Research, Casdin Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, Deerfield Management, Perceptive Advisors, Redmile Group, Tekla Healthcare Investors and Tekla Life Sciences Investors, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, Wellington Management Company and additional undisclosed investors.

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