Harpoon Therapeutics Secures $70 Million Series C Financing to Advance Cancer Immunotherapy Programs

Image source: Harpoon official website

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on November 11, 2018, U.S. Eastern Time, Harpoon Therapeutics (“Harpoon”), a clinical-stage immunotherapy R&D company based in California, announced the completion of a $70 million Series C financing round. The round was led by Arix Bioscience (LSE: ARIX; “Arix”), a global healthcare and life sciences company supporting medical innovation. Participants included new investors OrbiMed, Cormorant, Ridgeback Capital Investments, Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV), and NS Investment, as well as existing investors MPM Capital, Oncology Impact Fund, New Leaf Venture Partners, and Taiho Ventures. With this round, the company has raised a total of $130 million across three financing rounds since its inception in 2015.

Arix contributed $8 million (approximately £6.1 million) in this financing round and retained an 11.3% equity stake in Harpoon. As a result, Arix’s total equity interest in Harpoon increased from the original £9.4 million to £20.2 million.

Harpoon Therapeutics, a clinical-stage immunotherapy biotechnology company founded by MPM, is developing a novel class of T-cell-engaging antibodies to target potent hematologic and solid tumor antigens.

Harpoon will leverage these funds to further advance its immunotherapy programs based on the TriTAC (trispecific T-cell engager) and ProTriTAC (protease-activated trispecific T-cell engager) platforms, which are designed to harness the power of patients’ own immune systems to combat cancer and other diseases.

Harpoon’s lead candidate, HPN424, for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials. The company also plans to initiate Phase 1 clinical trials in 2019 for HPN536 (a mesothelin-targeted TriTAC) for the treatment of mesothelin-expressing tumors, and for HPN217 (a BCMA-targeted TriTAC) for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Dr. Jerry McMahon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Harpoon, stated, “This financing represents a significant milestone for us, enabling us to continue advancing our product pipeline, including our lead candidate HPN424, as well as other candidates in preclinical or clinical development. We believe these advancements will broaden the scope of oncology targets and indications.”

Harpoon, founded in 2015 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, is a clinical-stage immunotherapy biotechnology company. Harpoon has developed a novel T-cell engager that leverages the body’s own immune system to treat patients with cancer and other diseases. This T-cell engager is an engineered protein that directs patients’ own T cells to kill target cells expressing specific antigens.

In its early stages, Harpoon leveraged its proprietary tri-specific T cell Activating Construct™ (TriTAC) platform, focusing on the treatment of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Recently, the company announced the launch of its second technology platform, ProTriTAC. By applying the prodrug concept to TriTAC, the aim is to create a prodrug form of T cells that becomes preferentially activated within the tumor microenvironment.

Arix (LSE: ARIX), established in 2015 and headquartered in London with an office in New York, is a global healthcare and life sciences company dedicated to supporting medical innovation. Arix is committed to providing funding for medical innovation projects at various stages of development, as well as financing and building world-class healthcare and life sciences businesses.