Asher Biotherapeutics Secures $55M Series C Financing from Two MNCs to Advance Selective IL-2 Immunotherapy AB248

Apr 17, 2024 21:27 CST Updated 21:27

Asher Bio

Precision Targeted Immunotherapy Developer

On April 16, Asher Biotherapeutics, a biotechnology company developing precision-targeted immunotherapies for cancer, autoimmune diseases, and infectious diseases, announced the completion of a $55 million Series C financing. The financing was led by RA Capital Management and included new investors AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb, as well as existing investors Janus Henderson Investors, Third Rock Ventures, Wellington Management, Boxer Capital, and other undisclosed institutional investors. Asher Bio, founded by Ivana Djuretic and Andy Yeung with the support of Third Rock Ventures, is located in South San Francisco.

Co-founder and CTO - Andy Yeung

Asher Bio CEO Dr. Craig Gibbs stated, "We are thrilled to have the continued support of RA Capital and are excited to welcome two top biopharmaceutical companies and oncology experts to our team. We are committed to providing a new highly selective cis-targeted immunotherapy for cancer, aiming to activate only the desired immune cell types to potentially maximize efficacy and limit off-target toxicity. We are pleased that investors with deep practical expertise in the cytokine field recognize our early clinical data and differentiated approach. This Series C financing round generated strong demand, enabling us to continue the clinical development of AB248, generating tumor response data from monotherapy expansion cohorts as well as dose escalation and expansion data from combinations with PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors."

Asher Bio Plans to Use the Financing Proceeds to Advance Clinical Development of Its Lead Program AB248, a Novel CD8+ T Cell-Selective IL-2 Generated by Fusing an Activity-Attenuated IL-2 Mutant Protein with an Anti-CD8β Antibody. AB248 is Currently Undergoing a Phase 1a/1b Study Evaluating AB248 as a Monotherapy and in Combination with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) for the Treatment of Patients with Recurrent Locally Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors, Including Melanoma, Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC), Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, and Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck (SCCHN), Who Have Been Previously Treated with PD-1 or PD-L1 Checkpoint Inhibitors.

AB248 has been specifically engineered to selectively and effectively activate CD8+ T cells while avoiding natural killer (NK) cells and regulatory T (Treg) cells, the former of which can serve as a pharmacological reservoir and lead to toxicity, and the latter of which has immunosuppressive effects. Preliminary pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data from the ongoing Phase 1a/1b clinical trial support the mechanism and activity proof of AB248, with highly differentiated clinical characteristics. Early data shows effective and selective activation of CD8+ T cells, no significant changes in the number of Tregs and NK cells, preliminary evidence of anti-tumor activity, and generally well-tolerated safety.

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