Achilles Therapeutics Raises £100M in Series B Funding

achillesAchilles Therapeutics, a Stevenage, UK-based biopharmaceutical company developing personalized cancer immunotherapies, raised £100m in Series B financing.

The round was led by RA Capital Management, corner-stoned by founding investor Syncona Investment Management Limited, and joined by new investors including Forbion, Invus, Perceptive Advisors and Redmile Group.
In association with the financing, Achilles has added two life science executives to the Board:
– Dr Derek DiRocco, Principal of RA Capital Management, and
– Dr Rogier Rooswinkel, Partner at Forbion.

The company intends to use the funds to deliver two human proof-of-concept studies using a personalised T cell therapy approach targeting clonal neoantigens in non-small cell lung cancer and melanoma. These programs are expected to enter the clinic this year.
In addition, the financing will enable Achilles to continue building out its manufacturing capabilities as well as broadening its solid tumour pre-clinical product pipeline.

Led by Dr Iraj Ali, CEO, Achilles Therapeutics is developing personalized T cell therapies for solid tumours targeting clonal neoantigens, which are protein markers unique to each patient that are present on the surface of all cancer cells. Using its PELEUS™ bioinformatics platform, the company can identify clonal neoantigens from each patient’s unique tumour profile which are present on every cancer cell. Achilles uses its proprietary process to manufacture T cells which seek to exquisitely target a specific set of clonal neoantigens in each patient.

FinSMEs

03/09/2019

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