HiFiBiO’s name has a sense of urgency to it when spoken aloud.
That urgency comes into play today with an oversubscribed $75 million series D to bring two lead antibody oncology programs into the clinic and further its COVID-19 antibody candidate. Mirae Asset Financial Group led the round alongside half a dozen other new investors like B Capital Group and existing shareholders like Sequoia.
“We appreciate the backing from investor communities around the world who resonate with our vision to take this powerful drug discovery and development engine to the next level,” said Liang Schweizer, Ph.D., CEO and president, in a statement.
In conjunction with the financing, Mirae’s Ryan Jeong joins the HiFiBiO board.
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“Based on their most recent successful partnerships and demonstrated ability to rapidly advance a sustainable pipeline of innovative therapeutics, we are excited to support HiFiBiO Therapeutics as they pioneer the way immunotherapies are developed and delivered to each and every patient,” Jeong said in a statement.
HiFiBiO has a stake in the COVID-19 race with a phase 1 antibody called HFB30132A. In a Nature Communications publication last month, HiFiBiO presented preclinical data on the antibody in which in vitro studies showed the antibody efficiently neutralizes coronavirus variants, including the one first found in the U.K. A single administration of the antibody in rhesus monkeys infected with COVID-19 showed complete viral clearance. The antibody is in a phase 1 study in healthy volunteers.
HiFiBiO has partnerships with Gilead’s CAR-T unit Kite Pharma and a multitarget antibody discovery deal with Takeda for gastrointestinal diseases, cancers and other disorders.
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With Monday’s financing, the global biotech will move into phase 1 with HFB200301, a novel anti-TNFR2 antibody that HiFiBio is hoping will show strong anti-tumor immunity. The company also plans to use the new cash to bring HFB301001, a second-generation anti-OX-40 antibody, into the clinic. The drug is being developed as a potential novel treatment for cancer in solid tumor indications.
Finally, HiFiBiO will direct some dollars to its Drug Intelligent Science platform to identify disease targets and validate its biomarker hypothesis in the clinic.