On September 9, 2021 Obsidian Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering engineered cell and gene therapies, reported it has closed a $115 million Series B financing with a premier syndicate of life science investors led by The Column Group Crossover Fund (TCGX) (Press release, Obsidian Therapeutics, SEP 9, 2021, View Source [SID1234587456]). Additional new investors participating in the financing include RA Capital Management, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Cowen Healthcare Investments, Deep Track Capital, Logos Capital, Pivotal BioVenture Partners, Samsara BioCapital, and Soleus Capital. Existing investors Atlas Venture, Vertex Ventures HC, Amgen Ventures, and Bristol Myers Squibb participated in the financing. Also participating in the round is Vertex Pharmaceuticals, with whom Obsidian recently executed a collaboration to discover novel therapies that regulate gene editing.
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Proceeds from the financing will be used to drive Obsidian’s lead tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) program, cytoTIL15, into the clinic and to first clinical data for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. In addition, the Company plans to rapidly expand cytoTIL15 into multiple other solid tumor types and to advance its commercial manufacturing build.
"We are pleased to have the support and partnership from this syndicate of premier investors," said Paul Wotton, Chief Executive Officer of Obsidian. "With this funding, we will continue to advance our transformative cytoTIL15 program into clinical studies to treat patients suffering from solid tumors and to further expand our pipeline of engineered TIL therapies."
Cariad Chester, Partner, TCGX, will join the Company’s Board of Directors. "Obsidian’s cytoTIL15 therapy has the potential to be paradigm-shifting for patients with solid tumors. By engineering TILs with membrane-bound IL15, cytoTIL15 have the potential to drive improved efficacy as well as eliminate the need for toxic and costly concomitant IL2 therapy," said Chester. "We are thrilled to support the Obsidian team as they pave the way for cytoTIL15 and the next generation of ‘TIL 2.0’ therapies."
About cytoTIL15
cytoTIL15 is Obsidian’s lead cytoTIL program, currently in preclinical development for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and other solid tumors. cytoTIL15 is a novel engineered tumor infiltrating lymphocyte therapy engineered with regulated membrane-bound IL15 that does not require patients to receive concomitant IL2 therapy, a toxic and costly requirement for conventional TILs. The Company expects to submit an IND for cytoTIL15 in mid-2022.