Bolt Biotherapeutics, a US-based cancer therapeutics spinout of Stanford University, closed a $54m series B round yesterday featuring pharmaceutical firm Novo and Nan Fung Life Sciences, a subsidiary of property development group Nan Fung.
The round was led by Pivotal BioVenture Partners, the life science investment vehicle set up by Nan Fung, and included investment firm Vivo Capital.
Founded in 2015, Bolt is developing therapies that will fight cancer by using immune-stimulating antibody conjugates (ISACs) to reinvigorate the body’s immune system and heat up cold tumours so they can be detected by the immune system.
In addition to advancing the company’s lead conjugate into clinical trials, funding from the round will also be invested in its technology platform. Bolt’s technology is based on research by co-founder Edgar Engleman, professor of pathology and of medicine (immunology and rheumatology).
Peter Moldt, a partner at Novo Ventures who is also Bolt’s chairman, said: “We have made significant progress with our Boltbody ISAC platform that harnesses the ability of toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists to convert cold tumours into immunologically hot tumours following systemic administration.
“We are well positioned to bring this novel technology into clinical development and look forward to sharing more about our lead program, pipeline and platform in the months ahead.”
The company had previously raised a total of approximately $30m from undisclosed investors, according to several regulatory filings dated in 2016 and 2018, though it named both Novo and Vivo Capital as existing backers.
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.

US-based cancer therapeutics developer Bolt Biotherapeutics closed a $54m series B round yesterday featuring pharmaceutical firm Novo and Nan Fung Life Sciences, a subsidiary of property development group Nan Fung.

The round was led by Pivotal BioVenture Partners, the life science investment vehicle set up by Nan Fung, and included investment firm Vivo Capital.

Founded in 2015, Bolt is developing therapies that will fight cancer by using immune-stimulating antibody conjugates (ISACs) to reinvigorate the body’s immune system and heat up cold tumours so they can be detected by the immune system.

In addition to advancing the company’s lead conjugate into clinical trials, funding from the round will also be invested in its technology platform. Bolt’s technology is licensed from Stanford University where it was discovered by co-founder Edgar Engleman.

Peter Moldt, a partner at Novo Ventures who is also Bolt’s chairman, said: “We have made significant progress with our Boltbody ISAC platform that harnesses the ability of toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists to convert cold tumours into immunologically hot tumours following systemic administration.

“We are well positioned to bring this novel technology into clinical development and look forward to sharing more about our lead program, pipeline and platform in the months ahead.”

The company had previously raised a total of approximately $30m from undisclosed investors, according to several regulatory filings dated in 2016 and 2018, though it named both Novo and Vivo Capital as existing backers.