OrbiMed served as the lead new investor, along with new investors Cormorant, Ridgeback Capital Investments, Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) and NS Investment.
Harpoon’s existing investors MPM Capital, Oncology Impact Fund, Arix Bioscience, New Leaf Venture Partners and Taiho Ventures also participated in the Series C financing round.
Harpoon intends to use the proceeds from the financing to support further advancement of its immunotherapy programs based on its TriTAC (Tri-specific T cell Activating Construct) and ProTriTAC (Protease-activated Tri-specific T Cell Activating Construct) platforms, which are designed to harness the natural power of the body’s immune system to fight cancer and other diseases.
Harpoon’s TriTAC platform was designed to advance the therapeutic potential of T cell engagers, with a long half-life extended format. Harpoon is developing a pipeline of four wholly owned TriTAC product candidates. Harpoon’s lead product candidate, HPN424, is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, or mCRPC.
Harpoon Therapeutics president and CEO Dr Jerry McMahon said: “This financing is a significant milestone for us as we continue to advance our pipeline, including HPN424, our lead product candidate, with which we initiated a Phase 1 trial this summer as a potential treatment for prostate cancer.
“With these funds, we intend to pursue preclinical and clinical development of additional product candidates based on our TriTAC platform as well as our second technology platform, ProTriTAC, which we believe can expand access to a broader landscape of tumor targets and indications.”
Harpoon co-founder and chairman Dr Luke Evnin said: “Harpoon has assembled a world-class team to drive forward an ambitious pipeline across a range of indications and patient populations.
“With this financing, we believe we have the capacity not only to advance those pipeline programs but also to continue to innovate in the immuno-oncology arena.”
In addition, in 2019, Harpoon plans to initiate Phase 1 clinical trials for HPN536 (a mesothelin-targeting TriTAC) for the treatment of mesothelin-expressing tumors, and HPN217 (a BCMA-targeting TriTAC) for the treatment of multiple myeloma.
The ProTriTAC platform effort is yielding T-cell engagers against additional targets based on tumor protease-dependent activation in the tumor microenvironment, and Harpoon expects to advance its first ProTriTAC product candidate to IND-enabling studies in 2019.
Harpoon Therapeutics is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing a novel class of T cell engagers that harness the power of the body’s immune system to treat patients suffering from cancer and other diseases.
Source: Company Press Release