Bispecific antibody firm Ollin raises $330m in bumper round

Ollin Biosciences has followed its $100 million Series A last year with a massive $330 million second round that will fuel its challenge to Roche's blockbuster eye disease therapy Vabysmo.

The candidate, codenamed OLN324, is a VEGF/Ang2 bispecific antibody with a similar mechanism of action as Vabysmo (faricimab), but greater potency, according to the Austin, Texas-based biotech, which is developing the drug in partnership with China's Innovent Biologics.

The new financing follows the announcement that OLN324 performed better than Vabysmo in the phase 1b JADE trial in patients with diabetic macular oedema (DME) or wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD).

Ollin said it achieved "meaningfully faster and greater anatomic outcomes" in both DME and wAMD compared to Roche's $5 billion-a-year brand, as well as numerically greater vision gains, whilst requiring fewer retreatments.

The Series B cash – raised by a team of investors co-led by new investor TCGX and founding investor ARCH Venture Partners – will go toward simultaneous phase 3 trials of OLN324 in DME and wAMD that are due to start in the latter half of this year. Ollin said it already has positive feedback from regulators on the design of its phase 3 trials.

Meanwhile, some of the proceeds are also earmarked for a second programme, OLN102, which is licensed from China's VelaVigo and is described as a first-in-class TSHR/IGF-1R bispecific antibody with potential in treating thyroid eye disease (TED) and Graves' disease. That drug is still in preclinical development, but is due to start human testing later this year.

"We founded Ollin to challenge the status quo in ophthalmology," said co-founder and chief executive Jason Ehrlich, pointing to what he described as a "significant commercial opportunity" in the $15 billion market for retinal diseases.

"Following positive randomised clinical data and constructive feedback from both FDA and EMA, we believe OLN324 is well-positioned to enter global phase 3 development," he added.

"This financing provides the resources to execute a registrational programme designed to maximise the clinical and commercial potential of OLN324 while positioning Ollin for its next phase of growth as a company."

Other investors in the Series B included co-founding backers Mubadala Capital and Monograph Capital, along with new supporters a16z Bio+Health, Blackstone, Commodore Capital, CPP Investments, and RA Capital Management.