US-based immuno-oncology drug developer iTeos Therapeutics completed a $125m series B2 round on Wednesday featuring 6 Dimensions Capital, the biotech investment firm co-founded by a subsidiary of pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec.
RA Capital Management and Boxer Capital co-led the round, which was also backed by Janus Henderson Investors, RTW Investments, Invus, MPM Capital, HBM Partners, Curative Ventures, Fund+, SRIW, SFPI and Université catholique de Louvain’s Vives Louvain Technology Fund.
Founded in 2011, iTeos is developing immunotherapies to treat cancer and will put the funding into advancing its two lead drug candidates: EOS-850, which is currently in a phase 1/2 clinical trial, and EOS-448, which has just begun its own phase 1/2 trial.
The company’s technology is partially based on research conducted at the Duve Institute at Belgium’s Université catholique de Louvain.
MPM Capital led a $74m series B round for iTeos in mid-2018, investing together with 6 Dimensions Capital, SRIW, HBM Partners, S Curative Ventures, FPI-FPIM, Fund+ and Vives Louvain Technology Fund.
The company had previously received $4m in funding from Vives Louvain Technology Fund, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Hunza Ventures and Life Sciences Research Partners in 2012 following a $7.9m grant from the Belgian Walloon Government the year before.
Michel Detheux, president and CEO of iTeos, said: “We are very pleased to have the strong support of this leading class of investors who share our excitement for the highly innovative oncology therapies we have developed at iTeos.
“We look forward to accelerating and expanding our clinical development efforts to identify the most promising indications and combinations for people suffering with cancer. This financing maximises our ability to execute our development plans alone or in partnership.”
RA Capital Management principal Derek DiRocco and Aaron Davis, co-founder and CEO of Boxer Capital, are taking non-executive board positions at the company in conjunction with the round.
