CytomX Raises $70 Million in Series D Financing
Proceeds to enable advancement of proprietary Probody™ therapeutic pipeline toward clinical studies
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CytomX, a biotechnology company developing Probody™ therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, today announced the closing of a $70 million Series D financing round. The financing was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company with participation from 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.
Proceeds from the financing will support the continued advancement of CytomX's pipeline of Probody therapeutics toward clinical studies, including a Precision™ cancer immunotherapy directed against PD-L1 and Probody™ drug conjugates against novel, first in class targets. The financing will also support the expansion of Probody research and development activities 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," said Sean McCarthy, D. Phil., chief executive officer of CytomX. "Probodies are designed to achieve localized activity with systemic dosing, thereby reducing toxicity and expanding the potential of these promising antibody therapeutic classes. This financing will enable us to continue rapid advancement of multiple Probodies into clinical development as we pursue our vision of transforming lives with safer, more effective therapies."
Hoyoung Huh, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of CytomX, added, "The Probody platform offers a disruptive technology for the next generation of antibody therapeutics. CytomX has advanced its platform rapidly and with impressive results, as seen in preclinical proof-of-concept data and through innovative collaborations with premier pharmaceutical partners. This new round of financing will help CytomX advance its maturing wholly owned pipeline of Probody therapeutics and continue to build a highly differentiated, long-term, multi-product company."
About CytomX Therapeutics
CytomX Therapeutics develops Probody™ therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Probodies are fully recombinant masked antibodies that remain inert in healthy tissue but are activated specifically in the disease microenvironment. The Probody approach is designed to blunt systemic toxicities associated with antibodies and expand the therapeutic window of these drugs, potentially unlocking new therapeutic targets. The Company is initially focusing this highly innovative platform to discover and develop new immunotherapy and antibody drug conjugate therapies to treat areas of major unmet medical need in oncology. CytomX has attracted strategic collaborations with industry-leading pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer Inc., ImmunoGen and Bristol-Myers Squibb. CytomX is led by a seasoned and proven management team and is financed by leading life science investors. For more information, please visit www.cytomx.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release reflect CytomX's current views with respect to future events, and CytomX does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
Media Contacts:
Canale Communications
Ian Stone
[email protected]
619-849-5388
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150617/223685LOGO
SOURCE CytomX Therapeutics
RELATED LINKS
http://www.cytomx.com