US-based oncology drug developer Artiva Biotherapeutics launched on Friday with $78m in series A funding from investors including GC LabCell, the pharmaceutical company that also provided its cell therapy technology.
GC LabCell and sister company GC, the biotech and healthcare holding group formerly known as Green Cross Holdings, joined 5AM Ventures, VenBio Partners and RA Capital Management, which co-led the round, and Medivate Partners.
Artiva is working on cell therapies to treat haematologic cancers or solid tumours by utilising natural killer (NK) cells from the body’s immune system. The drugs are intended to work in tandem with monoclonal antibody therapies other NK cell therapies.
The company aims to advance its lead product candidate, a potential treatment for relapsed refractory B-cell lymphoma, AB-101, into clinical trials by the end of 2020.
Tom Farrell, Artiva’s president and chief executive, said: “We have seen tremendous breakthroughs in redirecting immune cells against cancer, but patient access to these therapies has been limited by safety, scale, manufacturing, logistics and cost issues.
“Our goal at Artiva is to do more, leveraging GC LabCell’s foundational work on true off-the-shelf NK cells into a pipeline of product candidates that are accessible to any cancer patient who may benefit.”
Yu-Kyeong Hwang, GC LabCell’s head of research and development, is on the company’s board of directors, along with Yong-Jun Huh, an executive vice-president at GC Corporation, Brian Daniels of 5AM Ventures, Laura Stoppel of RA Capital and Yvonne Yamanaka of VenBio Partners.
