Immunotherapy company Harpoon Therapeutics has won a $70 million Series C funding round, with which it plans to expand its TriTAC and ProTriTAC platforms, the latter of which was unveiled just days ago.
Arix Bioscience led the round, which brings San Francisco-headquartered Harpoon’s total investment up to $130m. Arix retains an 11.3% stake in the company, while other investors include OrbiMed, Ridgeback Capital Investments and Oncology Impact Fund.
Harpoon’s platforms use the body’s own immune system to fight cancer and other diseases. Its ProTriTAC platform, unveiled on November 9, targets a wide range of solid tumors.
Harpoon’s lead product candidate, HPN424, is currently in a phase-1 clinical trial. Two other candidates are scheduled for trials in 2019, as the biotech firm uses its considerable backing to fight cancer.
“This financing is a significant milestone for us as we continue to advance our pipeline, including HPN424, our lead product candidate, with which we initiated a Phase 1 trial this summer as a potential treatment for prostate cancer,” said Jerry McMahon, Harpoon president and CEO.
“With these funds, we intend to pursue preclinical and clinical development of additional product candidates based on our TriTAC platform as well as our second technology platform, ProTriTAC, which we believe can expand access to a broader landscape of tumor targets and indications,” he added.