Obsidian Therapeutics Announces Oversubscribed $160.5 Million Series C Financing to Drive OBX-115 Clinical Development
03 April 2024 - 11:00PM
Business Wire
- Syndicate led by new investor, Wellington Management, with
other new premier life sciences investors including Foresite
Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Novo Holdings A/S, Paradigm
BioCapital, RTW Investments, T. Rowe Price and Woodline Partners
LP.
- Proceeds to support clinical development of OBX-115 in ongoing
trials, including a multicenter trial for patients with metastatic
melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer.
- Ray Camahort, Ph.D., Partner at Novo Holdings US, appointed to
the Company’s Board of Directors.
Obsidian Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology
company pioneering engineered cell and gene therapies, today
announced it has closed a significantly oversubscribed $160.5
million Series C financing with a top-tier syndicate of life
science investors led by new investor, Wellington Management.
Additional new investors participating in the financing include
Foresite Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Novo Holdings A/S,
Paradigm BioCapital, RTW Investments, funds and accounts advised by
T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and Woodline Partners LP. Existing
investors Atlas Venture, Blue Owl Healthcare Opportunities, Bristol
Myers Squibb, Deep Track Capital, Logos Capital, RA Capital
Management, TCGX, Samsara BioCapital and Surveyor Capital (a
Citadel company) also participated in the financing.
Proceeds from the financing will advance Obsidian’s lead
engineered tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) program, OBX-115, in
its ongoing trials for patients with melanoma and non-small cell
lung cancer (NSCLC). The Company is focused on enrolling patients
and reaching key clinical and regulatory milestones, as well as
manufacturing scale-up ahead of pivotal trial readiness.
The Company also announced the appointment of Ray Camahort,
Ph.D., Partner in the Venture Investments group at Novo Holdings
US, to its Board of Directors. “Obsidian’s engineered TIL cell
therapy is highly differentiated and has the potential to bring
transformational efficacy to patients with solid tumors,” said Dr.
Camahort. “We look forward to supporting Obsidian’s team on their
journey to bring OBX-115 to additional patients.”
“Wellington is excited to be supporting Obsidian through its
next phase of growth, as the Company continues demonstrating the
potential of OBX-115 to address the unmet need of patients with
immune checkpoint inhibitor-resistant advanced or metastatic
melanoma. The Company has been generating momentum with its novel
cytoDRiVE technology and advancing OBX-115 into late-stage clinical
trials,” commented Irina Margine, Ph.D., Biotech Sector Lead at
Wellington Management.
“The strong demand and support from this syndicate of premier
investors is a testament to the promise of OBX-115 for patients
with treatment-resistant advanced melanoma,” said Madan Jagasia,
M.D., M.S., Chief Executive Officer of Obsidian. “This financing
provides funding through key clinical readouts in melanoma and is
the catalyst to continue expanding OBX-115 into NSCLC, where there
is significant potential and high unmet need.”
About OBX-115
Obsidian’s lead investigational cytoTIL15™ program, OBX-115, is
a novel engineered tumor-derived autologous T cell immunotherapy
(tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte [TIL] cell therapy) armored with
pharmacologically regulatable membrane-bound IL15 (mbIL15). OBX-115
has the potential to become a meaningful therapeutic option for
patients with advanced or metastatic melanoma and other solid
tumors by leveraging the expected benefits of mbIL15 and Obsidian’s
proprietary, differentiated manufacturing process to enhance
persistence, antitumor activity, and clinical safety of TIL cell
therapy. OBX-115 is being investigated in two ongoing and enrolling
clinical trials in advanced or metastatic melanoma and NSCLC
(NCT05470283 and NCT06060613).
About Obsidian Therapeutics
Obsidian Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology
company pioneering engineered cell and gene therapies to deliver
transformative outcomes for patients with intractable diseases.
Obsidian’s proprietary cytoDRiVE® technology is designed to
precisely regulate the timing and level of protein function by
using FDA-approved small-molecule drugs. Obsidian is headquartered
in Cambridge, MA. The Company has collaborations with Bristol Myers
Squibb and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. For more information, please
visit www.obsidiantx.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
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