Capstan Therapeutics Secures $175M Series B Financing to Advance In Vivo CAR-T Candidate CPTX2309 into Early Clinical Proof-of-Concept for Autoimmune Diseases

Mar 21, 2024 10:44 CST Updated 10:44

Capstan Therapeutics

Biotechnology Developer

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On March 20, 2024, Capstan Therapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to advancing in vivo cell reprogramming through targeted lipid nanoparticles (tLNP) for RNA delivery,Announced the successful completion of a $175 million oversubscribed Series B financing.

This round of financing was led by RA Capital Management, with new investors including Forbion, Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JJDC), Mubadala Capital, Perceptive Advisors, and Sofinnova Investments. Existing investors in Capstan Therapeutics, Inc., such as Alexandria Venture Investments, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Company, Leaps by Bayer, Novartis Venture Fund, OrbiMed, Pfizer Ventures, Polaris Partners, and Vida Ventures, also participated in this round.

The proceeds from the Series B financing will be used to advance Capstan's leading in vivo Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) candidate, CPTX2309, through early clinical proof-of-concept in autoimmune diseases and to further develop Capstan's tLNP product pipeline.

CPTX2309 is a product of the Capstan tLNP platform, delivering an mRNA payload encoding anti-CD19 CAR to CD8-expressing T cells, thereby effectively engineering CAR-T cells in vivo. The therapeutic goal of this approach is to reset the immune system by rapidly depleting deep B cells in the blood and lymphatic tissues, without facing the challenges associated with traditional ex vivo CAR-T therapies.

Nandita Shangari, Ph.D., Managing Director of RA Capital Management, said"We are honored to support Capstan Therapeutics and its mission to lead the development of in vivo CAR-T therapies. Our confidence in Capstan stems from a differentiated platform technology capable of achieving highly efficient T-cell engineering, its ideal application in the large autoimmune market poised for disruption by both in vivo and ex vivo CAR-T therapies, and an experienced management team relentlessly working to bring this technology to patients."

The company also announced the appointment of Nanna Luneborg, General Partner at Forbion, MBA, Ph.D., as a member of the Board of Directors.Laura Shawver, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Capstan Therapeutics, Inc., said"This Series B financing round has brought together a group of outstanding investors who recognize the potential of Capstan Therapeutics' in vivo CAR-T technology. As we enter a critical execution phase, we are extremely grateful for the support from both new and existing investors. Our ultimate goal is to bring new treatment modalities to patients."

References:

https://www.capstantx.com/posts/capstan-therapeutics-announces-175m-oversubscribed-series-b-financing/