Araris Biotech AG secured $24 million in financing to advance the development of its proprietary antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)-linker technology and drive its own ADC candidates into the clinic.
Araris CEO Phillip Spycher/courtesy of Araris Biotech AG
Araris Biotech AG secured $24 million in financing to advance the development of its proprietary antibody-drug conjugate-linker technology and drive its own ADC candidates into the clinic.
Araris CEO Phillip Spycher told BioSpace the financing will enable the company to build on the preclinical work of its lead ADC, anti-CD79b, which showed superiority to Roche’s Polivy, an FDA-approved ADC for relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
“We are obviously very excited about what we have seen with our lead asset,” Spycher said. “We have refined our process and we are seeing promising behavior from our linker technology and lead ADCs.”
Araris’ preclinical data showed its anti-CD79b ADC demonstrated superior anti-tumor efficacy compared to Polivy when using an antibody sequence and payload. In fact, Spycher said Araris, a spin-off from the Paul Scherrer Institute and ETH Zurich, was able to provide a higher dosing level without signs of increased toxicity.
Now, he, and Araris, hope it will be able to translate those results into human studies. If it does, Spycher believes it will redefine the ADC space.
ADCs are a precision medicine that pairs antibodies with toxic agents and are designed to deliver a payload in a precise manner to a diseased area. That specific manner is key to mitigating any negative impact on surrounding healthy tissues.
Araris’ anti-CD79b ADC: The Nitty Gritty
When ADCs come into contact with the tumor, there is a release of cytotoxins that deliver a potent payload. Araris’ ADCs use a proprietary small molecule linker technology that Spycher said is different from currently available products.
Araris’ linker platform is designed to attach any off-the-shelf antibody with any payload without the need for modification. In preclinical testing, the linker technology has shown itself to be both safe and stable.
“Our linker is designed to be very stable, so the drug is only released at the target site. And, we have further refined the technology and are very excited about what we are seeing,” Spycher said. “We have generated good preclinical data that shows significant promise.”
He noted the company has developed “a plethora” of linkers that use well-sequenced peptides that increase the stability of the product. He said the company has data showing its linker program overcomes the shortcomings of other established agencies.
“Our linker technology has enabled us to create ADCs in a single conjugation step. The resulting ADCs have shown a significantly improved therapeutic index and favorable biophysical properties in preclinical studies to date, and an ability to address the limitations of current ADCs on the market,” he said.
Because of its preclinical data, Spycher said some of the larger ADC companies are taking notice of its linker technology. Although he was unable to disclose which companies are showing interest, he noted talks with those companies are both positive and ongoing.
What Comes Next
To date, the FDA has approved 12 ADCs, and another six have been approved by other regulatory agencies. Companies that have blazed trails in the development of ADCs include Roche, AstraZeneca, Daiichi Sankyo, Seagen and ADC Therapeutics. The ADC market is estimated to be valued at more than $25 billion by 2028.
The financing was co-led by 4BIO Capital and Pureos Bioventures. New investors who supported the financing are Wille AG and the Institute for Follicular Lymphoma Innovation. Other participants include support from existing investors VI Partners, Schroders Capital, btov Partners and Redalpine.
Combined with its initial seed funding, Araris has raised about $40 million to date. Still, Spycher remains focused on securing additional funding in a Series A financing round as the company gets closer to entering in-human studies.
He said the latest finances should enable it to take the anti-CD79b ADC through the filing of an Investigational New Drug application and into the clinic by the end of next year. Additionally, he hopes to identify a second candidate and bring that forward to clinical development as well.
“This will be a very big milestone… it will validate our technology,” Spycher said.
In addition to advancements with its linker technology and ADC development over the past year, the company has also secured its own lab space and increased its head count.
One year ago, Araris was a 10-person organization operating from a Zurich-based incubator. Now, the company has grown to 15 people and secured its own lab and office space in Au ZH, a suburb of Zurich.
