Switzerland-based oncology drug developer ADC Therapeutics (ADCT) secured $200m in a private placement today that included pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca.
Private equity firm Auven Therapeutics, hedge fund Redmile and Wild Family Office also participated in the oversubscribed round, which included unnamed new investors.
Founded by Auven in 2012, ADCT is developing antibody drug conjugates that target major cancers. The company has a pipeline of treatments for haematological malignancies and solid tumours, with four candidates currently undergoing trials.
ADCT will use the capital to advance two candidates, ADCT-301 and ADCT-402, into planned registrational trials in 2018, while ADCT-301 will also be entered into a combination study for solid tumours.
Both therapies are already in clinical trials for sub-types of leukaemia and lymphoma. The cash will also support additional phase 1 development of ADCT-502, a candidate for patients suffering from a certain type of advanced solid tumour.
ADCT will file investigational new drug applications with US regulator the Food and Drug Administration for two other candidates, as well as advance its pipeline of preclinical programs. It hopes to have eight candidates in the clinic within 18 months.
The company has secured $455m in funding to date. AstraZeneca previously backed a $105m private placement in October 2016 alongside Auven, Wild Family Office and undisclosed investors.
AstraZeneca and Auven had already committed cash to ADCT’s $80m private placement in 2015, with contributions from unnamed investors. AstraZeneca’s biotech subsidiary MedImmune, supplied $20m to a $40m round in 2013 that also included Auven.