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August 1, 2024Outpace Bio is a cell therapy company that uses artificial intelligence protein design to program immune cells to improve functionality in solid tumor patients.This Series B financing brings Outpace's total funding to approximately $200 million.
This round of financing was led by RA Capital Management, with new investors including QIA, Surveyor Capital, Sheatree Capital, Black Opal Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, and other undisclosed investors. Outpace Bio's existing investors ARTIS Ventures, Playground Global, Bristol Myers Squibb, Abstract Ventures, Civilization Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Breton Capital Ventures, WRF Capital, and Sahsen Ventures also participated in this financing.The proceeds from the financing will be used forAdvance Multiple Engineered T Cell Candidates into Early Clinical Proof-of-Concept for Solid Tumor Treatment. The company’s lead program, OPB-101, is a mesothelin-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell enhanced by Outpace’s proprietary OUTSMART™, OUTLAST™, OUTSPACER™, and OUTSAFE™ technologies, with expectations to gain IND approval and administer the first dose in 2025 for treating patients with advanced platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer, or primary peritoneal cancer. Additionally, this funding will support Outpace Bio in expanding its future product pipeline through the company’s robust plug-and-play technology platform.
Marc Lajoie, Ph.D., Co-founder and CEO of Outpace Bio, Inc., stated"We are extremely grateful for the support and collaboration from a consortium of top-tier investors who share our vision. From our inception, we have been committed to developing breakthrough technologies that leverage novel biology unattainable through standard protein engineering methods, enabling us to program how cell therapies function within patients: entering tumors, surviving/amplifying/functionally persisting within tumors, and expanding host immune responses in the tumor microenvironment. This Series B financing allows us to accelerate the clinical development of our first two programs and expand our innovative pipeline and platform as we aim to improve patient outcomes."In addition, Outpace announced that Dr. Jake Simson, a partner at RA Capital Management, has been appointed as a member of the company's board of directors.Simson said"Existing cell therapies have shortcomings in treating solid tumors, offering only limited and transient responses. We are proud to support Outpace Bio's revolutionary cell therapy, leveraging their unique AI-driven protein design capabilities to address multiple barriers that hinder durable responses with unparalleled speed and success rates. The Outpace team is renowned for its exceptional mechanism-driven science and commitment to bringing about significant improvements in treatment outcomes for patients with solid tumors."Reference: Company's official website
