The co-founders of Fred Hutch's oncology therapeutics developer include Philip Greenberg who previously helped launch Juno Therapeutics.
Affini-T Therapeutics, a US-based cancer therapy spinout of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has closed an oversubscribed $175m round featuring the centre itself and The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.
Leaps by Bayer, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical and chemicals group Bayer, and life sciences-focused investment firm Vida Ventures, which co-founded Affini-T, co-led the round, which included Alexandria Venture Investments, a vehicle for life sciences and property investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
Humboldt Fund, Catalio Capital Management, Agent Capital, Erasca Ventures and unnamed others filled out the participants in the round.
Affini-T is developing T cell-driven therapeutics targeting solid tumours. The technology leverages synthetic biology the company claims can work against cancer mutations including those caused by Kirsten rat sarcoma virus – more commonly known as Kras.
Affinit-T’s co-founders include Philip Greenberg, head of immunology at Fred Hutch, who was previously also involved with Juno Therapeutics, which was acquired by pharmaceutical firm Celgene for $9bn in 2018.
Affini-T will use the money to begin clinical operations and acquire additional technology licences for its discovery platform in a bid to discover and target cancer driver genes. It has also increased its presence across its home country having added research labs in Seattle, Washington to a head office and production hub in Boston, Massachusetts.
Jürgen Eckhardt, head of Leaps by Bayer, said: “Curing and preventing cancer is one of the core focus areas of Leaps by Bayer, as this disease still represents one of today’s most pressing health concerns.
“This is especially true for some difficult-to-treat solid tumours such as pancreatic, lung or colorectal cancer. Addressing Kras represents a unique opportunity in the development of therapies that promise to address previously untreatable and incurable cancers and we are very excited about the potential of Affini-T’s technology platform.”
– Image courtesy of Affini-T. A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.
