On March 16, 2021 Acepodia, a biotechnology company developing next generation solid tumor and hematologic cancer cell therapies, reported the closing of its $47 million Series B financing (Press release, Acepodia, MAR 16, 2021, View Source [SID1234579659]). The funding will be used to advance the company’s lead off-the-shelf natural killer (NK) cell therapy candidate, ACE1702, through clinical development in solid tumors, and to advance its preclinical NK and gamma delta T cell therapy pipeline into the clinic. Acepodia anticipates completing IND-enabling studies for two additional pipeline products in 2021.
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The funding round was supported by new U.S. institutional investors, including Ridgeback Capital Investments, 8VC, and DEFTA Partners, and the Taiwan-based institutional investor-CDIB Capital Healthcare. Acepodia’s Series A investors also participated.
"This second capital raise for Acepodia represents a strong vote of confidence by our investors in our highly differentiated approach to cell therapy, particularly with NK cells, and in the Company’s potential to provide superior treatment options for patients with cancer," said Sonny Hsiao, Ph.D., founder and chief executive officer of Acepodia. "Accessible and effective allogeneic, off-the-shelf cell therapies will be an important part of next generation cancer therapy. With our discipline and capital efficiency, we are well-positioned to execute on our corporate objectives, including the continued clinical development of these therapies, including our lead candidate, ACE1702 for the treatment of solid tumors, and execution of future clinical trial initiations for our promising preclinical portfolio of NK and NK-like gamma delta T cell therapy candidates."
Wayne Holman, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Ridgeback Capital, added, "We are excited to participate in this financing for Acepodia as we are believers in the foundational evidence suggesting cell therapies should play a significant role in the future of cancer therapy. We believe the prior success of Acepodia’s leadership group in cell therapies, and the unique Antibody-Cell Conjugation (ACC) technology when applied to allogeneic off-the-shelf cryopreserved NK cells could lead to enhanced and differentiated results."
Acepodia’s technology enables development of cell therapies with improved tumor engagement and targeting through optimized cell receptor selection, and seamless conjugation with antibody therapies. Utilizing its proprietary, patent-protected Antibody-Cell Conjugation (ACC) technology, Acepodia is able to directly conjugate and arm NK or gamma delta T cells with validated anti-tumor antibodies for cell therapies, a design which has demonstrated the ability to overcome traditionally resilient tumor defenses in preclinical trials. The company is currently conducting an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of ACE1702, the first antibody-conjugated NK cell therapy in clinical development for the treatment of HER2-expressing solid tumors.