Israeli cancer immunotherapy developer KAHR today announced the completion of a $46.5 million financing round led by aMoon with participation from new investors BVF Partners LP, DAFNA Capital Management LLC, Peregrine Ventures, Shavit Capital and the Cancer Focus Fund and existing investors including Flerie Invest AB, Oriella Limited (CBG, chaired by Vincent Tchenguiz), Pavilion Capital, Hadasit Bio Holdings Ltd (HBL) and Mirae Asset.
The Jerusalem-based company is developing novel multifunctional immuno-recruitment proteins. The new capital will be used to advance clinical development ofKAHR's lead product candidate, DSP107.
KAHR develops smart immune-recruitment cancer drugs that activate a targeted immune response by converting cancer camouflage into beacons for the immune system to attack. The Company's lead product candidate, DSP107 is currently being tested in a Phase 1/2 multicenter, open-label, dose-escalation and expansion study assessing the safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of DSP107 as a monotherapy and in combination with Roche's PD-L1-blocking checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in patients with advanced solid tumors.
KAHR CEO Dr. Yaron Pereg said, "The successful financing round of this respected syndicate of investors is a testament to our breakthrough technology platforms and promising next-generation multifunctional, immunotherapeutic pipeline. Cancer treatment is challenging in that cancer cells continuously change and develop resistance to existing treatments. Another notable hurdle is the ability of cancer cells to evade recognition and elimination by the body's own immune system. Our novel, multi-pronged product candidates are specifically designed to address these challenges by unmasking cancer cells for immune recognition, and at the same time, providing signals to effectively trigger a targeted synergistic activation of anticancer immunity."
He added, "Our unique approach positions us in the forefront of cancer immunotherapy, and through this financing we can continue to advance our clinical asset and accelerate our preclinical projects into clinical development across multiple cancer indications for the benefit of patients who are non-responsive or refractory to existing immunotherapies," added Dr. Pereg.
aMoon partner Gur Roshwalb added, "KAHR's multifunctional immunotherapeutic platform has enormous potential to address unmet needs in immuno-oncology. We are particularly excited about KAHR's differentiated first-in-class CD47x41BB targeting compound, which potentially harnesses both the innate and adaptive immune systems to target solid and hematologic tumors."
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. and Solebury Capital acted as placement agents for the offering.
Kahr Medical was represented by Advs. Yael Baratz, Michael Nussbaum and Eli Khesin of the Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer Baratz law firm.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 16, 2021
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