Financing co-led by Third Rock Ventures and an undisclosed healthcare fund, with significant investment also from existing investors F-Prime Capital and Omega Funds
New funds will help solidify ARTBIO's proprietary Pb212 isolation technology AlphaDirect and its distributed manufacturing network, advance its lead program AB001 in the clinic for treatment of prostate cancer, and further the company's pipeline
Management team expanded with appointments of radiopharmaceutical experts, Philippe Dasse, Pharm.D., and Daniel Rossetto
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., OSLO, Norway, LONDON, and BASEL, Switzerland, Dec. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ARTBIO, Inc. (ARTBIO), a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company developing a new class of targeted alpha radioligand therapies (ARTs), today announced the closing of an oversubscribed and upsized $90 million Series A financing co-led by Third Rock Ventures and an undisclosed healthcare fund. Additionally, seed lead investors F-Prime Capital and Omega Funds participated substantially. The company's prior seed investment round of $23 million was announced in June 2023.
Concurrent with the Series A closing, ARTBIO has appointed industry veterans Philippe Dasse, Pharm.D., as Chief Technical Officer and Daniel Rossetto as Head and Senior Vice President of Supply Chain and External Manufacturing. In these roles, Philippe and Daniel will lead the development and expansion of ARTBIO's unique distributed manufacturing network in support of the company's clinical pipeline.
"We are thrilled to have the support of our new and existing investors, including Third Rock Ventures, F-Prime Capital and Omega Funds. These groups bring significant expertise in company scale-up and pipeline development that will be invaluable as we continue to progress our programs and pipeline," said Emanuele Ostuni, Ph.D., CEO of ARTBIO. "Next year will be an important one for the company as we advance our lead program, AB001, and our entire pipeline, while further developing a distributed manufacturing network with our AlphaDirect technology. Bringing Philippe and Daniel to the ARTBIO team also deepens our manufacturing expertise to ensure efficient manufacturing and seamless delivery of our novel Pb212 alpha radioligand therapies to patients."
"The foundational work conducted by the stellar team of experts at ARTBIO has established the potential of alpha radioligand therapies and gives us great confidence that this team can revolutionize today's cancer treatment paradigm," said Jeff Tong, Partner at Third Rock Ventures. "As ARTBIO is in a rapid scale-up phase, we are looking forward to supporting its growth by leveraging our deep expertise in discovery, development and operations."
The appointments of Philippe and Daniel to the management team strengthen the company's capabilities during this critical stage. In Philippe's role as Chief Technical Officer, he will lead the development of ARTBIO's proprietary AlphaDirect technology and establishment of the company's distributed manufacturing network. Philippe was most recently Head of Technical Operations for Radioligand Therapies at Novartis Oncology. Philippe was also the first employee of Advanced Accelerator Applications in 2002, a company acquired by Novartis in 2018, and covered increasing responsibilities to lead all technical operations before his departure.
"I am excited to join this talented and passionate team to help build the next wave of innovation in radiopharmaceuticals by pushing the boundaries of the platform and creating a new manufacturing paradigm that leverages my past experiences and adapts to the demands of short-lived alpha emitters," said Dr. Dasse.
In Daniel's role as Head and Senior Vice President of Supply Chain and External Manufacturing, he will lead efforts to strengthen the company's supply chain logistics and manufacturing partnerships to ensure the seamless distribution of ARTs. Daniel has a long career in pharmaceutical manufacturing and was most recently the Global Head of Supply Chain at Advanced Accelerator Applications, Novartis. In this role, Daniel managed a diverse team to scale up a high-speed and agile internal and external supply network to deliver the clinical and commercial RLT portfolio which included PLUVICTO® to prostate cancer patients.
"The strong Series A funding is a clear sign of the differentiated value proposition and potential of the ARTBIO platform and a recognition of the fast progress that the team has made," said Ted Love, M.D., ARTBIO Board Chairman and Biotechnology Innovation Organization's (BIO) Board Chairman. "We are grateful to attract such high-quality investors and associated board members whose deep experience in drug discovery and development as well as company building will serve us well as we continue driving our novel pipeline forward."
About ARTBIO
ARTBIO is a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company redefining cancer care by creating a new class of alpha radioligand therapies (ARTs). The unique ARTBIO approach selects the optimal alpha-precursor isotope (Pb212) and tumor-specific targets to create highly effective and safe therapeutics. The company's AlphaDirect technology, a first-of-its-kind Pb212 isolation method, enables a distributed manufacturing approach for the reliable production and delivery of ARTs. ARTBIO is advancing three pipeline programs with lead program AB001 currently in first in human trials. ARTBIO is shaped by a long-standing scientific legacy with nearly a century of pioneering work in radiation therapy conducted at the University of Oslo and Norway's Radium Hospital. For more information, visit www.artbio.com, and follow us on LinkedIn (@artbio-inc) and Twitter (@artbio_inc).
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