Participated · Equity · Apr 2024

Century Therapeutics is a biotechnology company advancing regenerative cell therapies aimed at curing serious diseases. Its lead asset, CNTY-813, is an engineered beta islet cell program designed to provide a potentially curative treatment for Type 1 diabetes by restoring insulin-producing capacity. The company reports rapid progress on this program and plans to accelerate R&D activities with newly secured capital. Beyond CNTY-813, Century indicates ambitions to expand a pipeline of truly transformative cell-based therapies, though specific additional candidates were not detailed in the article. Century’s execution momentum has attracted strong investor interest, resulting in an oversubscribed financing round. The $135 million private placement substantially enhances the firm’s balance sheet and will fund preclinical and clinical development of CNTY-813 and related platform work.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2016

argenx is a Belgian biotech that develops therapeutic antibodies targeting cancer and severe autoimmune diseases. Its lead preclinical immuno-oncology candidate, ARGX-115, binds the GARP–inactive TGF-β complex to inhibit the immunosuppressive activity of regulatory T cells. In preclinical studies ARGX-115 has shown it can prevent release of active TGF-β and potentially restore anti-tumor immune activity; the company hopes the candidate could treat a broad range of cancers. argenx is expanding its U.S. footprint and is edging toward a Nasdaq listing. Financially, the company completed multiple financings in 2016, including a €16M share sale in January and a €30M (≈$33.4M) raise in the U.S. in the most recent round. The company also signed a $685M preclinical immuno-oncology deal with AbbVie, under which AbbVie will complete human testing, fund GARP-related research for two years, and hold options to license resulting drugs. arGEN-X is a Breda, The Netherlands- and Zwijnaarde, Belgium-based clinical-stage human therapeutic antibody company. It is led by CEO Tim Van Hauwermeiren. The company is advancing ARGX-113, a novel therapeutic approach applicable to most autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, and unmet orphan indications such as myasthenia gravis, immune thrombocytopenic purpura and Kawasaki disease. ARGX-113 also has potential use in therapies where anti-drug antibodies reduce or neutralize the effect of therapeutic proteins. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its ARGX-113 preclinical program toward clinical development. The Series B round now totals €32.5m following the extension. arGEN-X develops human antibody products using its proprietary SIMPLE Antibody™ platform. The company has a pipeline of five therapeutic programs targeting autoimmune disorders, inflammation and oncology, with two programs in formal preclinical development. Its most advanced program, ARGX-110, targets a clinically validated cell surface receptor implicated in autoimmunity and cancer and has shown potent target modulation in preclinical models. arGEN-X plans to use the new funding to advance differentiated therapeutic antibody programs into clinical development and expects to file an IND for ARGX-110 in early 2013. The company is led by CEO Tim Van Hauwermeiren and maintains a Belgian subsidiary, arGEN-X BVBA, in Zwijnaarde. arGEN-X is a Rotterdam, The Netherlands–based biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of human antibodies. It has developed the SIMPLE Antibody platform (Superior Immunodiversity with Minimal Protein Lead Engineering) intended to rapidly create new product candidates against novel targets and where standard antibody approaches fail. The company formed an R&D subsidiary, arGEN-X BVBA, to advance platform development. That subsidiary received a €1.3m grant from the Institute for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders (IWT) to further develop the platform. arGEN-X said the grant, together with a substantial Series A fundraising completed recently, will allow continued rapid development and validation of the discovery platform. The company also plans to initiate additional programs that leverage the key competitive features of the SIMPLE platform. arGEN-X BV is a Dutch biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of human antibodies. The company is based in Rotterdam. It announced the first closing of a €9.5m Series A equity financing. The round was co-led by Forbion Capital Partners and Life Sciences Partners, with participation from KBC Private Equity, BioGeneration Ventures, and existing shareholders Erasmus MC Biomedical Fund and Thuja Capital Healthcare Funds. arGEN-X said it will use the funds to further develop its products.