US-based immunotherapy developer Palleon Pharmaceuticals closed a $100m series B round yesterday that included pharmaceutical firms GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Takeda and AbbVie, through subsidiaries SR One, Pfizer Ventures, Takeda Ventures and AbbVie Ventures.
Investment management firm Matrix Capital Management led the round, which also featured Vertex Ventures HC, a healthcare and life sciences fund that forms part of venture capital group Vertex Ventures, and Surveyor Capital, the growth equity arm of investment manager Citadel.
Palleon is working on treatments for cancer and inflammatory diseases intended to leverage carbohydrates known as glycans to regulate the body’s immune system.
The series B funds will be used to advance the company’s pipeline toward clinical trials in human subjects. It is looking to bring its lead oncology drug candidate into trials in 2021 and is also developing candidates for fibrosis and autoimmunity.
SR One had previously led Palleon’s $47.6m series A round in 2017, investing together with AbbVie Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, Takeda Ventures and Vertex Ventures.
Jim Broderick, Palleon’s founder and CEO, said: “Glycan-mediated immune regulation presents an enormous opportunity for novel therapeutics to treat a range of diseases characterised by immune system dysfunction, including cancer and inflammatory diseases.
“Palleon is committed to understanding and fully exploiting this mechanism of immune regulation for the benefit of patients who suffer from these deadly and debilitating conditions.”
