US-based immuno-oncology therapy developer Arch Oncology closed a series C round featuring Roche Venture Fund, the corporate venturing arm of pharmaceutical firm Roche, at $105m on Tuesday.
Cowen Healthcare Investments, 3×5 Partners and Eventide Asset Management co-led the round, which included Adage Capital Management, Point72 Asset Management, Avego Healthcare Capital, FMB Research, Lightchain, RiverVest Venture Partners and Broadfin Holdings.
Formerly known as Tioma Therapeutics, Arch Oncology is developing antibody therapies to treat cancer patients with solid tumours or haematologic malignancies. The company’s lead drug candidate, AO-176, uses modified antibodies to target and kill cancer cells, and the funding will be used to progress it through a phase 1/2 clinical trial.
Laurence Blumberg, Arch Oncology’s president and chief executive, said: “The quality of our new and existing investors is a testament to this pipeline and our mission on behalf of patients with cancer who need better therapeutic options.”
Lightchain had previously led the company’s $50m series B round in early 2019, participating alongside Roche Venture Fund, RiverVest Venture Partners and 3×5 Partners.
Arch Oncology had received $86m in a 2016 series A round co-led by RiverVest Venture Partners with Novo Ventures and SR One, on behalf for pharmaceutical firms Novo and GlaxoSmithKline respectively. It had also pulled in $1.3m of funding from undisclosed investors the previous year.