The new funding will be used to advance the company’s potential best-in-class epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor furmonertinib, a lung cancer treatment that has been licensed from Allist Pharmaceuticals.
Pennsylvania-based ArriVent Biopharma announced Wednesday it has launched with $150 million in Series A financing. The new funding will be used to advance the company’s potential best-in-class epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR TKI) furmonertinib, a lung cancer treatment that has been licensed from Allist Pharmaceuticals.
The new Series A financing gives ArriVent an upfront payment of $90 million, in addition to other proceeds once the company reaches and completes certain milestones. Hillhouse Capital Group led the financing, in conjunction with Boyu/Zoo Capital, OrbiMed, Octagon Capital Advisors, Lyra Capital and Lilly Asia Ventures.
“We are launching our company with a strong, expanding team that has in-depth scientific and clinical development expertise as well as substantial capital from leading healthcare investors,” said ArriVent’s co-founder and chief executive officer, Bing Yao, in a statement on the launch. “This financing has supported the in-licensing of our first asset, furmonertinib, and will continue to support the buildout of our portfolio of innovative medicines.”
Yao signed on as the CEO of ArriVent after formerly serving as the CEO of Viela Bio, a biotech recently acquired by Horizon Therapeutics for over $3 billion. The acquisition adds additional treatment candidates to Horizon’s rare disease medicine portfolio, including UPLIZNA (inebilizumab-cdon), a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved monoclonal antibody for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.
Yao explained the ArriVent’s strategy is aimed toward identifying certain compounds “validated through rigorous discovery and development processes in China,” such as furmonertinib, which was licensed by Shanghai-based Allist. “Securing ex-China development, manufacturing and commercialization rights to furmonertinib—a clinical-stage asset with best-in-class potential—is an important initial step toward potentially accelerating its global development for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers who presently lack viable treatment options,” added Yao.
Allist’s furmonertinib previously received approval in EGFR T790M mutation-positive locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in March 2021. The company is currently studying the potential of the therapy in additional EGFR mutant NSCLC patients in the country, including those with metastatic NSCLC. The therapy is also being evaluated in adjuvant clinical settings.
According to ArriVent, the company will use the rest of the year to prepare a filing for an investigational new drug (IND) application with the FDA to develop furmonertinib for patients with EGFR mutant NSCLC. Additionally, the company will potentially seek to further develop the therapy in other solid tumors. ArriVent noted it will file the IND application by the end of this year.
“In the short time since our inception, ArriVent has built an impressive team of drug developers with established and broad expertise in clinical development, including registrational strategies, and deep experience working with biotech partners around the globe,” ArriVent’s chief medical officer and co-founder, Stuart Lutzker, M.D., Ph.D., said in a statement. “We believe our company is well-positioned to realize the full potential of innovative drugs, broadening their reach to patients.”
