Strand raises $153m for RNA meds, and other bio financings

Strand Therapeutics has raised $153 million in second-round financing that will be used to move its programmable mRNA therapies through clinical development.

The Boston, US-based biotech recently announced initial phase 1 results with lead candidate STX-001, a lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-encapsulated, self-replicating mRNA expressing IL-12 that is being developed to treat solid tumours.

At this year's ASCO cancer congress, STX-001 showed signs of anti-tumour activity when given as a monotherapy to 22 patients with solid tumours, including melanoma, that had stopped responding to cancer immunotherapies. The drug – which is injected directly into tumours and is designed to activate innate immunity against the cancerous cells – was also well-tolerated in the study.

Following after STX-001 in preclinical development is STX-003, billed as a 'world-first' systemically administrable programmable mRNA therapy, also coding for IL-12 and intended as a cancer treatment.

The roster of backers in the Series B – led by Kinnevik – included the venture capital arms of biopharma companies Regeneron and Amgen, as well as ICONIQ, Alderline Group, JIC-VGI, LG Technology Ventures, and Gradiant Corp, along with existing investors.

"We believe programmable RNA is the next frontier in therapeutics, and Strand has built the leading platform to unlock it," said Christian Scherrer, head of health and bio at Kinnevik. "Their early clinical data is outstanding, and the systemic delivery capability has the potential to reshape how we treat disease."

Other recent funding rounds

Radiopharma startups have been attracting a lot of investor interest of late, and Massachusetts-based Artbio is no exception, raising $132 million in a Series B that will provide the resources needed to advance a prostate cancer candidate through phase 2 testing.

The round – led by Sofinnova Investments and B Capital – also included new backers the Qatar Investment Authority and Alexandria Venture Investments, along with existing investors F-Prime, Omega Funds, and Third Rock Venture.

Artbio is one of a clutch of new biotechs developing radiotherapies based on alpha particle-emitting isotopes, which promise to kill tumours with reduced off-target side effects in other tissues than therapies based on beta radiation. Its lead programme, PSMA-targeting AB001, is in early-stage clinical testing as a treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

China's Minghui Pharma was also on the fundraising trail this week, raising $131 million in what it called a "pre-initial public offering" round supported by OrbiMed, Qiming Venture Partners, TF Capital, BioTrack Capital, 5Y Capital, New Day Fund, and Wider Link Enterprise Investment, among others.

The cash injection will help fund the launch of its JAK inhibitor-based ointment for atopic dermatitis, called MH004 (tofacitinib etocomil), which is currently under regulatory review in China, as well as clinical testing of other candidates in its pipeline like PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody MHB039A, which is being tested in a phase 2 trial in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Shanghai-based Minghui has said it is hoping to locate a development partner for MHB039A. Other bispecifics in the class – one of the hottest areas of immuno-oncology - include Akeso/Summit Pharma's ivonescimab, 3SBio/Pfizer's SSGJ-707, and LaNova/MSD's LM-299.

Finally, Chai Discovery has completed a $70 million first-round financing that will be used to develop the capabilities of its eponymous, AI-powered drug discovery platform.

The Series A comes shortly after Chai launched the latest iteration of its platform, Chai-2, which purports to be able to generate antibody candidates simply by inputting target antigen and epitope, and deliver de novo antibody design with a near-20% hit rate, which it says compares to 0.1% for previous computational methods.

The round was led by Menlo Ventures with participation from new investors Yosemite, DST Global Partners, SV Angel, Avenir, DCVC, and others.

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