• Tuesday, June 11, 2024 @ 12:00 am

Lead Program, BPT567, will be the first PD1-IL18 immunoconjugate to enter the clinic; Phase 1/2a study in solid tumors expected to begin in 2H 2024

Financing led by Johnson & Johnson with participation by new and existing investors

Bright Peak Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing next-generation, multifunctional immunotherapies, today announced that it raised $90 million in a Series C financing. The round was led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, with participation from additional new investors Venrock, KB Investment, and Northleaf Capital Partners. Existing investors participating in the round include founding investor Versant Ventures along with Fidelity Management & Research Company, RA Capital Management, Qatar Investment Authority, Invus, Alexandria Venture Investments, and an undisclosed leading healthcare investment fund.

Proceeds from the Series C financing will be used to advance BPT567 into a Phase 1/2a clinical trial and accelerate a pipeline of next-generation immunotherapies. BPT567 is a first-in-class PD1-IL18 immunoconjugate designed to provide simultaneous blockade of the PD(L)-1 checkpoint pathway and targeted delivery of IL-18 signaling.

In preclinical models, BPT567 induced profound synergistic anti-tumor activity by blocking PD-1 and specifically targeting the potent proinflammatory effects of IL-18 to effector T cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) with more limited activation of immune cells in the periphery.

“We are now well positioned to bring much needed innovation to the field of anti-PD-1 immune-checkpoint inhibition and look forward to advancing our lead program into the clinic later this year across multiple tumor types” said Fredrik Wiklund, Chief Executive Officer of Bright Peak.

“This capital raise provides financial flexibility to bring new therapeutic modalities to patients with cancer and we’re delighted to have attracted the confidence of a global pharmaceutical company and strong support from such a distinguished syndicate of leading life sciences investors.”

You may also be interested in