Gene Therapy Innovator Asgard Therapeutics Secures $32.6M Series A Led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Novo Holdings

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On March 14, Asgard Therapeutics announced the completion of a €30 million (approximately $32.64 million) Series A financing round. The funds will be used to support the development of Asgard's lead project, AT-108, with the goal of reaching significant milestones by 2026.Support IND SubmissionStatus, expand and strengthen its R&D team, and promote the development of new reprogramming models and drug delivery platforms to enhance its product pipeline.

This round of financing was co-led by RV Invest and Johnson & Johnson Innovation, with participation from existing investors Novo Holdings, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, and Industrifonden.

AT-108 is a first-class off-the-shelf gene therapy that directly reprograms tumor cells into antigen-presenting dendritic cells, ultimately triggering a personalized anti-tumor immune response.AT-108 is based on a replication-defective adenovirus vector that delivers three transcription factors into tumor cells, reprogramming their gene expression profile to "reprogram" them into immunogenic cDC1-like cells.Cell.

Image Source: Company Official Website

AT-108 in the high-impact journal "Science Immunology》and has conducted preclinical proof-of-concept (PoC) in both in vivo and ex vivo models in patients as well as in rodent models, demonstrating the ability to induce robust anti-tumor immunity and abscopal effects even with monotherapy.

Cristiana Pires, Co-founder and CEO of Asgard Therapeutics, said"Asgard Therapeutics’ technology overcomes the challenges faced by traditional cell therapies, enabling the in vivo regeneration of functional immune cells directly within patients. We believe this breakthrough strategy will pave the way for the next generation of cell therapies. This financing round follows the robust preclinical proof-of-concept (PoC) established for AT-108. We are grateful for the support from both new and existing investors as we discover and develop innovative immunotherapies with transformative potential, and we look forward to advancing our lead program, AT-108, into clinical trials."

Summary

In March, companies in the CGT field such as Cozer Yongxin and Kenai Therapeutics have received billion-yuan level financing.，2024Approximately in January-February18 CGT Companies Raise Over $2 Billion in Financing, involving 7 gene therapy companies, 11 of which are Chinese companies. The number of financing events in the CGT field continues to reach new highs, and the proportion of financing events in China has also started to increase. Under the current investment and financing situation, the entry of start-up enterprises provides new momentum for the continuous growth of the industry, while mature enterprises that have gone through a period of development are gradually unleashing stronger development potential.

Reference: Company official website