A2 Biotherapeutics, a US-based cancer-focused biotechnology developer co-founded by biotech firm Innovative Targeting Solutions, yesterday emerged from stealth with a $57m series A round.
The series A round was backed by Column Group, Vida Ventures, Samsara BioCapital and Nextech Invest.
Founded in 2018, A2 Biotherapeutics is working on technology that identifies antibody and T-cell receptor fragments that can distinguish healthy cells from tumour cells, thereby avoiding the former being unintentionally killed by cancer therapies.
Traditional approaches are based on tumour-specific antigens, but A2’s platform is able to target cancer cells by determining both what they do and what they do not express.
The platform is partially based on technology licensed from Innovative Targeting Solutions, which co-founded A2 with chief scientific officer Alexander Kamb, formerly senior vice-president of research at pharmaceutical firm Amgen.
A2 currently has four assets in development and hopes to have a first clinical candidate in 2020. The company is exploring strategic collaborations to accelerate the development of its pipeline and is preparing to open an autologous cell manufacturing facility next year.
