MBrace Therapeutics, a San Diego, CA-based biopharmaceutical company, raised $85M in Series B funding.
The round, which brought the total amount to $110M, was led by TPG, investing through its dedicated life sciences fund, TPG Life Sciences Innovations (TPG LSI), and its multi-sector impact strategy, The Rise Fund. The round also included new investors Avidity Partners and Cowen Healthcare Investments, as well as existing Series A investors, Venrock and Alta Partners.
The company intends to use the funds to support clinical development programs, including a first-in-human clinical trial of lead investigational ADC, MBRC-101.
Originally founded in June 2020 by Isan Chen, M.D., Renata Pasqualini, Ph.D., and Wadih Arap, M.D., Ph.D., MBrace is focused on developing lead ADC candidate, MBRC-101, and is advancing its proprietary SPARTA approach, which accelerates the development of antibody-based drugs for personalized medicine.
MBRC-101 targets the EphA5 receptor tyrosine kinase, which is present in multiple cancers including, but not limited to, breast, non-small cell lung (NSCLC), colorectal, gastric, and pancreatic cancers.
The company has generated extensive preclinical data on novel drug candidates in-licensed from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
The company also added Christopher LeMasters, MBA, CEO of XinThera, to the MBrace Board of Directors as an independent director. XinThera is a subsidiary of Gilead Pharmaceuticals that is focused on small molecule discovery and development of oncology and immunology therapeutics. LeMasters brings decades of experience in oncology therapeutics to MBrace. In addition to LeMasters, Ng and Monal Mehta, Ph.D., of Avidity Partners will also join the Board in conjunction with the financing. These additions complement the deep expertise of existing board members Bob More of Alta Partners and Racquel Bracken of Venrock.
FinSMEs
14/11/2023