Looks as though a new Cambridge startup in the space of antibody drug development is revving up to make a big splash.
Compass Therapeutics just submitted plans to raise $120 million in a Form D filing with the SEC. So far, it’s raised $16 million of the proposed amount. The startup hasn’t responded to MedCity News outreach to ask about the new fundraise.
The company was founded in 2013 as the Kairos Biologics Foundation, but changed over this year to Compass Therapeutics. It operates out of Cambridge’s Lab Central.
On its LinkedIn page, Compass Therapeutics bills itself as an antibody discovery and development company “focused on comprehensively drugging the tumor-immune synapse with combinations of human monoclonal antibodies, multiclonals, and engineered protein constructs.”
It’s got an interesting link to Adimab, a successful New Hampshire-based antibody discovery company: Errik Anderson, cofounder of Adimab, is Compass’ chief operating officer.
Much like Adimab, Compass’ direction is “industrializing antibody discovery and decentralizing biologic validation through a partnership-first mentality that leverages best-in-class technologies and top-tier academic laboratories around the world.” Sounds a little like competition.
Thomas Schuetz, a former OrbiMed venture capitalist, is listed on the SEC filing along with a few other notable names: Steve Tregay, founder and CEO of FORMA Therapeutics; Ben Auspitz, a venture partner with Fidelity Biosciences; and Philip Ferneau of Borealis Ventures.
