PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tmunity Therapeutics, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on saving and improving lives by delivering the full potential of next-generation T cell immunotherapy, today announced the closing of a $100 million Series A financing. Syndicate investors, which include Ping An Ventures, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Gilead Sciences, Inc. and Be The Match BioTherapies, join seed round investors, the University of Pennsylvania and Lilly Asia Ventures. Tmunity is developing a diversified portfolio of novel treatments that exhibit best-in-class control over T cell activation and direction in the body. The proceeds from the Series A will be used to advance and expand the business and operational structure of Tmunity to support the rapid translation, development and manufacture of its portfolio of novel T cell based immunotherapies, first for the treatment of cancer.
“Tmunity was created to integrate and advance proprietary, novel approaches to cell and gene therapies and we have pursued an equally unique approach to the selection of our visionary funding partners,” said Usman “Oz” Azam, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Tmunity. “Our mix of investors brings together global leaders in healthcare services and biopharmaceuticals in Ping An Ventures and Gilead, the visionary philanthropy of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, and Be The Match BioTherapies. Together, they share a common passion to work together to drive the next-generation of personalized therapies for patients. We appreciate their confidence in – and vision for – Tmunity to deliver on that potential. This is a very exciting time for us.”
Pursuing Integrated Approaches to Engineered T Cell Therapies Leveraging Proprietary and External Technologies and Scientific Insight from the University of Pennsylvania
Tmunity was founded on an exclusive collaboration and license agreement with the University of Pennsylvania, offering proprietary technologies and unparalleled expertise in first-in-patient cell and gene therapies of its scientific founders, led by Carl H. June, M.D. Today, Tmunity is uniquely positioned to integrate the best technologies and pursue multiple approaches to engineered T cell therapies simultaneously in order to advance treatments into the clinic rapidly, optimize and scale manufacturing, pursue regulatory approvals aggressively, and thus deliver them effectively to patients.
“Tmunity is unlike any other cell-based immunotherapy ‘start-up’ because of the unrivaled expertise of its scientific founders and leadership team in cell and gene therapy and its proven translational and manufacturing success in T cell medicine,” said Jiang Zhang, Managing Partner of Ping An Ventures. “We were also attracted to the global potential of the pipeline, especially the T cell therapies in oncology in China, as well as the scope beyond oncology into autoimmune and infectious diseases, as we begin to expand our investment portfolio.”
About Series A Round Investors
Ping An Ventures
Ping An Ventures is the direct
investment arm under Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd.,
one of the largest and most valuable financial service conglomerates in
the world, ranked No. 39 on the Global Fortune 500. Ping An Ventures
invests in healthcare industry in all stages with a specific focus on
both growth-stage and PIPE investment. With multi-billion dollars asset
under management in multiple funds, the investment team has invested in
over 50 companies globally, covering all sectors in healthcare: Biotech,
Diagnostics, Medical Device, Services, Healthcare IT, etc. The
investment team includes many industry and financial veterans, and
commits to discovering and helping fast-growing and leading healthcare
companies in their sectors. For more information, visit www.pinganventures.com.
Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
The Parker
Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy brings together the best scientists,
clinicians and industry partners to build a smarter and more coordinated
cancer immunotherapy research effort. The Parker Institute is an
unprecedented collaboration between the country’s leading immunologists
and cancer centers. The program started by providing institutional
support to six academic centers, including Memorial Sloan Kettering
Cancer Center, Stanford Medicine, the University of California, Los
Angeles, the University of California, San Francisco, the University of
Pennsylvania and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Recently, the institute also initiated programmatic support for top
immunotherapy investigators, including a group of researchers at
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Robert Schreiber, Ph.D., of Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Nina Bhardwaj, M.D.,
Ph.D., of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Phil
Greenberg, M.D., of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The
Parker Institute network also includes more than 40 industry
collaborations, more than 60 labs and more than 300 of the nation’s top
researchers focused on treating the deadliest cancers. The goal is to
accelerate the development of breakthrough immune therapies capable of
turning most cancers into curable diseases. The institute was created
through a $250 million grant from The Parker Foundation. For more
information, visit www.parkerici.org.
Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences is a
biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes
innovative therapeutics in areas of unmet medical need. The company’s
mission is to advance the care of patients suffering from
life-threatening diseases. Gilead has operations in more than 30
countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California. For
more information, visit www.gilead.com.
Be The Match BioTherapies
Be The Match BioTherapies®
partners with organizations pursuing life-saving cellular therapies in
every stage of development – from discovery through commercialization.
The organization is built on the foundation established over the last 30
years by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP)/Be The
Match®, with unparalleled experience managing cellular
therapies. Be The Match BioTherapies offers customizable solutions, such
as cell therapy supply chain delivery for autologous or allogeneic
therapies, enabled by high-touch, personalized case management and a
robust, customizable technology platform, MatchSourceSM.
Experience in cell sourcing and collection allows Be The Match
BioTherapies to provide cells consented for research, clinical or
commercial use. Researchers have access to clinical trial services
through a partnership with the CIBMTR® (Center for
International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research®). In
addition, Be The Match BioTherapies has the infrastructure in place to
collect, store and analyze patient samples post-cell or gene therapy
treatment at the time points required by regulatory authorities. For
more information, visit BeTheMatchBioTherapies.com.
About Tmunity Therapeutics
Tmunity Therapeutics is a private biotherapeutics company focused on saving and improving lives by delivering the full potential of next-generation T cell immunotherapy to patients with devastating diseases. Integrating broad collaborations with the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and the University of Minnesota with the groundbreaking scientific, clinical and manufacturing expertise and demonstrated track record of its founders, Tmunity represents a new center of gravity in translational T cell medicine. The company is developing a diversified portfolio of novel treatments that exhibit best-in-class control over T cell activation and direction in the body. These personalized next-generation immunotherapies for cancer, infectious disease and autoimmune disease are advancing rapidly toward the clinic. With headquarters in Philadelphia, Tmunity utilizes laboratories and production facilities at UPenn and its own dedicated cGMP manufacturing facility in Norristown, PA, to pursue process improvement and production scale-up in support of clinical development of T cell therapies. For more information, visit www.tmunity.com.
