Forbion announces that it has participated in a £100 million Series B financing of Achilles Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing personalised cancer immunotherapies.
Rogier Rooswinkel to join the Board of Directors
Naarden, The Netherlands, and Munich, Germany, 03 September 2019 – Forbion, a leading European life science venture capital firm, today announces that it has participated in a £100 million Series B financing of Achilles Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing personalised cancer immunotherapies.
The financing was led by incoming U.S. investor RA Capital Management, cornerstoned by founding investor Syncona, and also joined by new investors, Invus, Perceptive Advisors and Redmile Group. Derek DiRocco from RA Capital Management and Rogier Rooswinkel from Forbion will join the Board of Directors.
Achilles is developing personalised T cell therapies for solid tumours targeting clonal neoantigens: protein markers unique to each patient that are present on the surface of all cancer cells. Using its PELEUS™ bioinformatics platform, Achilles can identify clonal neoantigens from each patient’s unique tumour profile which are present on every cancer cell.
Achilles uses its proprietary process to manufacture T cells, which seek to exquisitely target a specific set of clonal neoantigens in each patient. Targeting multiple clonal neoantigens that are present on all cancer cells, but not on healthy cells, reduces the risk that new mutations can induce immune evasion and therapeutic resistance, and allows individualised treatments to potentially target and destroy tumours without harming healthy tissue.
“Achilles is leading the next wave of immuno-oncology drug development. We have moved from concept to clinic-ready in less than three years. We are extremely pleased to welcome this excellent group of new investors to Achilles and I would like to personally thank our existing founding investors for their continued support,” said Dr Iraj Ali, CEO of Achilles Therapeutics. “With this fundraising we have made a clear statement about the scale and nature of our ambitions to bring novel cancer therapies rapidly to patients with a high unmet medical need.”
Proceeds from this financing will deliver two human proof-of-concept studies using a unique personalised T cell therapy approach targeting clonal neoantigens in non-small cell lung cancer and melanoma. These programmes are expected to enter the clinic this year. In addition, the financing will enable Achilles to continue building out its manufacturing capabilities as well as broadening its growing solid tumour pre-clinical product pipeline.
“What attracted us to Achilles was its world-class team and founders, who have a unique understanding of cancer evolution and cell therapy. In our view, Achilles is very well positioned to become a leading player in the oncology arena, by harnessing their know-how for the benefit of patients.” added Rogier Rooswinkel, Partner at Forbion.
About Forbion
Forbion is a dedicated life sciences venture capital firm with offices in The Netherlands and Germany. Forbion invests in life sciences companies that are active in the (bio-) pharmaceutical space. Forbion’s investment team has built an impressive performance track record since the late nineties with successful investments in over 55 companies. Forbion manages well over EUR 1 billion across ten funds.
Forbion is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. Besides financial objectives, Forbion selects investments that will positively affect health and well-being of patients. Its investors include the EIF, through its European Recovery Programme (ERP), LfA, Dutch Venture Initiative (DVI) facilities and AMUF facilities and the KFW through the ERP – Venture Capital Fondsfinanzierung facility. Forbion operates a joint venture with BGV, the manager of seed and early stage funds focused on Benelux and Germany. For more information, please visit: www.forbion.com.
About Achilles Therapeutics
Achilles Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing personalised T cell therapies targeting clonal neoantigens: protein markers unique to the individual that are expressed on the surface of every cancer cell. Achilles uses DNA sequencing data from each patient, together with the proprietary PELEUS™ bioinformatics platform, to identify clonal neoantigens specific to that patient, and then develop personalised T cell-based therapies specifically targeting those clonal neoantigens.
Achilles was founded by lead investor Syncona Ltd and its shareholders include the CRT Pioneer Fund, UCL Technology Fund, Cancer Research Technology, with the support of UCL Business (UCLB) and the Francis Crick Institute. For further information please visit the Company’s website at: www.achillestx.com.
Issued for and on behalf of Forbion by Instinctif Partners.
For more information please contact:
Forbion contact:
Sander Slootweg, Managing Partner
Rogier Rooswinkel, Partner
P: +31 (0) 35 699 30 00
E: sander.slootweg@forbion.com / rogier.rooswinkel@forbion.com
Media contact:
Instinctif Partners
Melanie Toyne-Sewell / Ashley Tapp / Kiki Zaccagnini
P: +44 (0) 20 7457 2020
E: forbion@instinctif.com
