Arcellx, based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, closed on a Series C financing round worth $115 million.
Arcellx, based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, closed on a Series C financing round worth $115 million.
The funding included existing and new investors. It was co-led by Samsara BioCapital and CAM Capital and joined by new investors Adage, Asymmetry, CaaS Capital, Cambrian Bio, Sixty Degrees, Soleus Capital, Surveyor Capital, Suvretta, and Terra Magnum Capital Partners. Existing investors included NEA, Novo Holdings, SR One, Takeda Ventures, LG Tech, and Clough Capital.
The financing came shortly after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the go-ahead for its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ACLX-001 for multiple myeloma. ACLS-001 is the first clinical application of Arcellx’s ARC-SparX platform of controllable and adaptable cell therapies.
An earlier Phase I trial of CART-ddBCMA demonstrated the effectiveness and advantages of the company’s binding domains as a basis for its platform of classical single infusion CAR-Ts in addition to its controllable and adaptable ARC-SparX CAR-T’s. The company plans to launch the Phase I trial of ACLX-001 in the second half of this year.
“Building on our Phase I clinical trial where we demonstrated the clinical significance of our novel binding domain in patients suffering from refractory multiple myeloma, ACLS-001 is the next step in validating our differentiated platform,” said Rami Elghandour, chairman and chief executive officer of Arcellx. “Demonstrating a safe and effective cell therapy that is controllable and adaptable has the potential to be transformative for the field of cell and gene therapy. We’re excited about the broad clinical applications this will enable including our programs in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and solid tumors.”
The funds raised will support the clinical trials of ACLS-001 and ACLS-002. Both are cell therapies based on the ARC-SparX platform. ACLS-002 is being initially developed for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).
“With support from this high caliber syndicate, Arcellx is poised to elevate the field of cell therapy by advancing our treatments for a range of cancers,” said Elghandour. “Our platform of both single infusion and controllable CAR-Ts based on our novel synthetic binding domain is built to address the limitations of cell therapy with the opportunity to improve efficiency, reduce toxicity, and shorten the time to intervention while expanding into new indications.”
CAR-T is a type of cancer therapy where a patient’s T-cells are collected from the patient, then engineered in a laboratory to express a specific protein on the patient’s cancer cells, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). They are then grown and infused back into the patient.
The company’s technology has two components, SparX proteins, and universal ARC-T cells. SparX proteins bind to specific antigens on cancer cells, then mark them for destruction by ARC-T cells.
SparX proteins have novel binding domains that recognize specific disease-associated antigens. The company is developing a variety of SparX proteins that can treat a variety of diseases. The ARC-T cells are engineered immune cells that bind to SparX proteins and kill the flagged cells. ARC-T cells only activate when combined with a SparX protein bound to an antigen.
“Based on the early clinical data, we believe that CART-ddBCMA represents a potential best-in-class therapy for multiple myeloma and with the support of this financing will be positioned to move into pivotal trials next year,” said Mike Dybbs, Partner, Samsara BioCapital. “We’re also excited about the opportunity for CART-ddBCMA to move into earlier lines of treatment for multiple myeloma based on the safety profile in this early data set. In addition, the ARC-SparX platform will be the first adaptive and controllable CAR-T system to enter the clinic and provides a unique approach to building next generation cell therapies.”
