Print“Our funding puts us in a strong position to move forward with multiple CAR-T and TCR therapies and invest in the science that will support continued innovation with these game-changing technologies, says Juno CEO Hans Bishop.”
Juno Therapeutics has added another $134 million to advance its novel cancer immunotherapies that hold potential for transforming the way cancer is treated. The funding comes on top of a $176 million series A capital raise that closed in April, bringing the total raised to $300 million since its launch in December 2013.
The series B financing includes new investments by ten undisclosed public mutual funds and healthcare-focused funds and participation by all of the previous major investors—Alaska Permanent Fund, Arch Venture Partners, Venrock, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Based in Seattle, Juno was launched in December by three leading cancer centers—Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Seattle Children's Research Institute—to advance a broad pipeline of potential curative cancer immunotherapies. Its goal is to drive multiple product candidates targeting select hematologic and solid tumor cancers to regulatory approval. Juno says each candidate has the potential to treat a variety of high-risk cancers.
Juno is genetically engineering a patient’s own T-cells to kill cancer cells through two complementary platforms: chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, technology designed to target cell surface antigens that are expressed on cancer cells; and high –affinity T-cell receptor, or TCR, technology that can detect alterations in intracellular proteins present in tumor cells. These treatments are expected to reduce longer-term toxicities associated with current chemotherapies.
“Juno continues to make significant progress in developing new therapies with the potential to radically change the outlook for patients battling cancer,” says Hans Bishop, CEO of Juno. “Our funding puts us in a strong position to move forward with multiple CAR-T and TCR therapies and invest in the science that will support continued innovation with these game-changing technologies.
Juno will need to be well funded in order to focus on advancing its pipeline. Pharma giant Novartis, which has licensed technology from the University of Pennsylvania, is Juno’s main rival in its race to get a CAR-T therapy to patients. The two companies are currently battling it out in court over intellectual property rights to certain aspects of the technology. Other contenders include Kite Pharma, which has licensed CAR T-cell based IP from the National Institutes of Health, and Pfizer, which struck partnership deal in June with French biotech Cellectis for $110 million upfront and up to another $2.9 billion in milestones to access its CAR-T technology.
August 08, 2014
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-juno_therapeutics_fills_its_coffers_with_another_134m.html
