NEW YORK– AnHeart Therapeutics (“AnHeart”), a clinical-stage global biopharmaceutical group company committed to developing novel precision oncology therapies, today announced the completion of a $61 million oversubscribed Series B financing round led by new investor Octagon Capital, with participation from Innovent Biologics, Cenova, Laurion Capital, and Sage Partners. The Company has raised a total of $100 million in gross proceeds from private financings since its founding in December 2018.
The proceeds from the Series B financing will be used to advance the clinical development of AnHeart’s lead asset, taletrectinib, a next-generation ROS1 inhibitor currently in Phase 2 trials in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and support the continued expansion of its pipeline of precision next-generation oncology therapeutics.
ROS1 oncogenic fusions are observed in approximately 1-2% of or about 20,000 NSCLC patients each year worldwide. ROS1 fusions are also observed in several other cancers such as cholangiocarcinoma, glioblastoma, ovarian, gastric, and colorectal cancers. NTRK fusions are oncogenic driver across multiple advanced solid tumors and observed in more than 90% in very rare cancers such as secretory breast carcinoma, mammary analogue secretory carcinoma of salivary gland and infantile fibrosarcoma, 12.1~14.5% of papillary thyroid cancer and 10.3% of non-brainstem high grade glioma. Incidence of NTRK fusions is below 5% in more common cancers such as lung, breast, melanoma, and colon cancer.
Taletrectinib is a potent, novel, highly selective, next-generation ROS1/NTRK inhibitor for solid tumors with ROS1 fusion or NTRK fusion mutations. It can overcome crizotinib resistance and cross the blood-brain barrier. There is currently no FDA approved drug targeting crizotinib resistance mutations. Taletrectinib is currently in China TRUST trial (Taletrectinib ROS1 LUng STudy, NCT04395677), global TRUST II trial (NCT04919811) and the basket trial in NTRK fusion positive solid tumors (NCT04617054). Impressive interim data of the TRUST Phase 2 trial for NSCLC have been published at ASCO and CSCO earlier this year.
“AnHeart is delighted to partner with this group of top-tier, leading healthcare investors to advance development of our pipeline of precision oncology therapeutics. We have made tremendous progress since we founded AnHeart in 2018,” Junyuan (Jerry) Wang, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AnHeart Therapeutics. “This financing reflects strong support for our platform, people, and comprehensive development strategy.”
“This strong investment group, comprised of both healthcare specialist funds and a leading biopharma company allows us to accelerate development of our unique pipeline of targeted therapies,” said Lihua Zheng, J.D., Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of AnHeart Therapeutics. “The funding will also allow us to continue expanding our team of world-class scientists and researchers focused on bringing game-changing cancer therapeutics to improve patients’ lives.”
“We were attracted to AnHeart by the excellent science, experienced management team and broad pipeline of targeted small molecule therapeutics,” said Dr. Ting Jia, “TJ”, Ph.D., Founder, Octagon Capital, a New York-based healthcare specialist fund active in both private and public markets. “AnHeart’s lead asset taletrectinib is a promising potential new therapeutic in ROS1 fusion-positive lung cancer patients, with impressive preliminary Phase 2 clinical data reported at ASCO and CSCO this year. In addition, we see a tremendous opportunity for AnHeart’s pipeline to produce novel, targeted therapies to address significant unmet medical needs across a broad range of difficult-to-treat cancers.”
