SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Silverback Therapeutics, Inc. (“Silverback”) (“the Company”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary ImmunoTAC technology platform to develop systemically delivered and tissue-targeted therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases, today announced the close of an $85 million Series C financing round. EcoR1 Capital led the round, with participation from new investors including Boxer Capital of Tavistock Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, Nantahala Capital Management, and RA Capital. Existing investors also participating in the financing included OrbiMed Advisors, U.S. Venture Partners, Nextech Invest Ltd., Hunt Technology Ventures, and Pontifax Venture Capital. Silverback intends to use the proceeds to support its clinical development of SBT6050, a TLR8 agonist conjugated to a HER2-directed antibody currently in a Phase 1 clinical study for the treatment of HER2-expressing solid tumors, and to advance its robust pipeline of other ImmunoTAC therapeutics.

“Silverback has made impressive progress developing a differentiated approach to immuno-oncology,” said Scott Platshon, principal, EcoR1 Capital. “Broad activation of innate immune cells has been difficult to achieve due to systemic toxicities. Silverback has persisted in understanding how to deliver TLR8 agonists with a good preclinical safety and tolerability profile, and we are excited to lead an investment round that will help Silverback investigate the translatability of these findings to patients with HER2-expressing solid tumors.”

The Company also announced two key executive promotions. Valerie Odegard, Ph.D., has been named president and chief scientific officer, and Naomi Hunder, M.D., has been named chief medical officer. “Drs. Odegard and Hunder bring comprehensive drug development expertise to Silverback, as well as a fierce drive for scientific excellence and improving patient outcomes,” said Laura Shawver, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Silverback Therapeutics. “We are at an important growth phase for the company and their ongoing leadership will be critical as we progress SBT6050 through clinical development, as well as advance our robust preclinical pipeline. It is awesome to work with them and the entire Silverback team as we create a new generation of much-needed therapies.”

Valerie Odegard, Ph.D., joined Silverback in 2016 and has served as chief scientific officer since 2018. She brings over 15 years of research and drug development experience to the Company. Prior to Silverback, Dr. Odegard served as vice president of research at Juno Therapeutics, where she was responsible for discovery, preclinical development, and translational research efforts to advance novel cancer immunotherapies into clinical development. Previously, she held research leadership positions at Novo Nordisk and Trubion Pharmaceuticals, where she oversaw the discovery and preclinical development of therapeutics for oncology and inflammatory conditions. Dr. Odegard received her Ph.D. in immunobiology from Yale University.

Naomi Hunder, M.D., joined Silverback in 2019, bringing both late-stage and early clinical development experience to the Company. Prior to Silverback, Dr. Hunder was vice president, head of clinical development and medical affairs at Acerta Pharma, responsible for the acalabrutinib clinical program and lifecycle strategy. Before joining Acerta, Dr. Hunder was vice president of clinical development at Seattle Genetics, where she led the brentuximab vedotin clinical program and early phase programs in lymphoma and myeloma. Dr. Hunder previously served as medical director at ZymoGenetics, developing therapeutics for oncology and viral hepatitis. A board-certified medical oncologist, Dr. Hunder received her M.D. from Jefferson Medical College and her internal medicine training at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her oncology fellowship training at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/University of Washington.

About Silverback Therapeutics

Silverback Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on leveraging its proprietary ImmunoTAC^TM technology platform to develop systemically delivered and tissue targeted therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases. Silverback’s platform enables the strategic pairing of proprietary payloads that modulate key disease modifying pathways with monoclonal antibodies directed at specific disease sites. Initially, Silverback is creating a new class of targeted immuno-oncology agents that direct a TLR8 agonist myeloid cell activator to the tumor microenvironment in solid tumors to promote cancer cell killing. Silverback’s lead product candidate, SBT6050, is a therapeutic comprised of a TLR8 agonist payload conjugated to a HER2-directed monoclonal antibody that targets tumors such as certain breast, gastric and non-small cell lung cancers. SBT6050 is currently in a Phase 1 clinical study in patients with advanced or metastatic HER2-expressing solid tumors (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04460456). Silverback Therapeutics is located in Seattle, Washington. To learn more, visit www.silverbacktx.com.

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