NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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.”
About AnHeart Therapeutics
AnHeart Therapeutics (“AnHeart”), a Cayman Islands entity (registered name AnBio Therapeutics Ltd.), is a clinical-stage global biopharmaceutical group company developing a broad pipeline of novel or next-generation precision oncology therapeutics with high unmet medical needs. Its lead asset, taletrectinib, is a next-generation ROS1 and NTRK inhibitor currently in Phase 2 trials for the first-line and second-line ROS1 fusion positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and NTRK fusion positive solid tumors. The Company’s pipeline also includes AB-218, a mIDH1 inhibitor in Phase 2 trials for lower grade glioma, cholangiocarcinoma, AML and other tumors and AB-329, an AXL inhibitor in Phase 1 studies to be used in combination with checkpoint inhibitor or chemotherapies in NSCLC, ovarian cancer and breast cancers. The Company operates from offices in the US and China. For more information, please visit www.anhearttherapeutics.com.
AnHeart Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our or our industry’s actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those anticipated by such statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “intends,” or “continue,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements contained in this presentation include, but are not limited to, (i) statements regarding the timing of anticipated clinical trials for our product candidates and our research and development programs; (ii) the timing of receipt of clinical data for our product candidates; (iii) our expectations regarding the potential safety, efficacy, or clinical utility of our product candidates; (iv) the size of patient populations targeted by our product candidates and market adoption of our product candidates by physicians and patients; and (v) the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. This Presentation discusses product candidates that are under clinical study and which have not yet been approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or regulatory agencies in other countries. No representation is made as to the safety or effectiveness of these product candidates for the use for which such product candidates are being studied.
