Novo Ventures and Sanofi Ventures co-led a series C round for the cancer therapy developer, which builds on work at Amsterdam UMC.
Lava Therapeutics, a Netherlands-based immuno-oncology therapy spinout of Amsterdam University Medical Centers (Amsterdam UMC), secured $83m yesterday in a series C round.
The round was co-led by Novo Ventures and Sanofi Ventures, investment vehicles for pharmaceutical firms Novo and Sanofi respectively.
MRL Ventures Fund, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co’s Merck Research Laboratories division, also took part in the round, which additionally included Redmile Group, Ysios Capital, BB Pureos Bioventures, Versant Ventures and Gilde Healthcare.
Lava is working on treatments for haematological and solid cancers built on bispecific antibodies capable of activating certain T cells to induce anti-tumour responses. It has allocated the capital to advancing its portfolio into proof-of-concept trials in 2021.
The company advances research by Hans van der Vliet at Amsterdam UMC, the university hospital group affiliated with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and University of Amsterdam.
Novo Ventures partner Nanna Lüneborg has been appointed to Lava’s board of directors in connection with the round, as has Sanofi Ventures’ European Union head of investments, Laia Crespo, and Joël Jean-Mairet, managing partner and co-founder of Ysios Capital.
Lüneborg said: “Lava’s bispecific antibody approach to targeting and engaging gamma-delta T cells has the potential to transform the treatment of a wide range of cancers.
“We are impressed by the preclinical data generated by Lava to date, which validate the company’s platform and support their transition into a clinical-stage organisation. The team is highly experienced in drug development, and I look forward to working with them.”
Lava raised $18.6m in a mid-2018 round co-led by Gilde Healthcare and Versant Ventures that also fetaured MRL Ventures Fund and founding investors Lupus Ventures and Biox Biosciences. The company had secured $1.1m in seed financing in 2017 from investors who were then unidentified.
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.
