US-based cancer therapy developer Arcellx has secured $85m in a series B round that included diversified conglomerate LG and pharmaceutical firms Novo, Takeda and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
The round was co-led by venture capital firms Aju IB Investment and Quan Capital and included Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Mirae Asset Capital, JVC Investment Partners, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and certain funds managed by Clough Capital Partners.
LG, GSK and Takeda participated through subsidiaries LG Technology Ventures, SR One and Takeda Ventures. Arcellx had received $27m in series A funding earlier this year from Novo, Takeda Ventures, SR One and NEA, according to BioBuzz.
Founded in 2015, Arcellx is developing immune cell therapies based on antigen receptor complex T cells (ARC-T) that are activated and reprogrammed through an antigen protein known as a sparX which in order to target and destroy tumours.
The series B funding will be used to progress the drug candidates in Arcellx’s pipeline, including cell therapies being developed to combat multiple myeloma and acute myeloid leukaemia. It is also working on earlier-stage treatments for solid tumours and non-cancerous diseases.
Aju IB partner Hugo Beekman and Quan Capital venture partner Lewis (Rusty) Williams have both taken seats on the company’s board of directors in conjunction with the round, which was oversubscribed.
