US-based vaccine developer Immunomic Therapeutics completed a $61.3m financing round yesterday that was led by pharmaceutical firm HLB.
The HLB-led consortium had supplied an initial $10m for the round in February this year and now owns 47.6% of Immunomic. The deal gives the corporate the option to provide additional capital in the coming months.
Immunomic has created vaccine development technology dubbed Universal Intracellular Targeted Expression (Unite) that exploits the body’s biochemistry to generate responses from the immune system.
The technology is primarily focused on oncology but it also has applications in infectious diseases, allergy and autoimmune conditions.
The company is overseeing six cancer-focused programs including its lead product candidate, ITI-1000, which is aimed at a highly aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme, in addition to two allergy-focused assets in its pipeline.
The funding will allow Immunomic to accelerate a phase 2 trial of ITI-1000 and advance a pipeline that includes a potential vaccine for Covid-19. It plans to explore additional applications of Unite, hire additional staff and bolster its infrastructure.
Bill Hearl, chief executive of Immunomic, told Washington Business Journal the company is aiming for an initial public offering in the first quarter of 2021.
In addition to its investment, South Korea-based HLB intends to form a research hub called the Asian Brain Cancer Research Centre in its home country, in order to advance research in the field of glioblastoma multiforme and to develop ITI-1000 for Asian patients.
HLB will nominate a total of five representatives to the board of directors at Immunomic, which has now raised $79.1m in equity and debt financing according to regulatory filings and press reports.
The company secured $3m from individual investors through the Mid Atlantic Bio Angels consortium in 2013, before unnamed new and existing investors provided $6.8m in series A funding the following year.
