Pheon Therapeutics announces $120m Series B financing to fund development of its differentiated ADC pipeline

• Financing led by TCGX, including new investment from BVF Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners (Lightspeed) and Perceptive Advisors
• Three first-in-class ADC assets funded through clinical proof of concept

LONDON, May 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pheon Therapeutics (Pheon), a leading Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) specialist developing next generation ADCs for a wide range of hard-to-treat cancers, today announces the completion of a $120m Series B financing to fund the development of its pipeline of differentiated ADCs. The financing was led by TCGX with participation from other new investors BVF Partners, Lightspeed and Perceptive Advisors, alongside existing investors Atlas Venture, Brandon Capital, Forbion, and Research Corporation Technologies.

The new financing will be used to further advance Pheon's differentiated ADC pipeline through clinical proof of concept. The first three assets are aimed at an undisclosed novel target which is highly overexpressed in a wide range of solid tumors. The first program has demonstrated an unprecedented preclinical therapeutic index while utilizing a DAR8 Topoisomerase-1 inhibitor linker-payload, whereas the next two ADCs utilize other linker-payload technologies to mine the broad potential of this target. The company expects to start its first Phase 1 clinical trial in 2024 and rapidly advance towards dose expansion cohorts. The capital will also enable the expansion of Pheon's suite of in-house technology platforms to generate optimized ADC constructs.

Cyrus Mozayeni MD, Chief Executive Officer of Pheon, said: "This raise is a critical step as we transition into a clinical-stage company. The proceeds will fund a robust clinical development pathway for our first three ADC assets, which are based on an exceptional novel target. We are excited to be working on these promising candidates and look forward to sharing their potential therapeutic benefits with patients."

Cariad Chester, Managing Partner of TCGX, commented: "The recent clinical successes of optimized ADC constructs validate the promise of this therapeutic modality to treat solid tumors. Continued progress against cancer is predicated upon innovative approaches to new targets. Pheon has an exciting pipeline of first and best-in-class ADC programs and I look forward to working with the company as it enters into the next stage of growth and development."

As part of the financing, Cariad Chester, Managing Partner of TCGX, will join the board of directors.

Notes to Editors

About Pheon Therapeutics

Pheon Therapeutics is an Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) specialist developing a pipeline of ADCs, based on novel targets and novel linker payloads, to treat solid tumors. Pheon's lead program is a first-in-class ADC against a novel target that is highly overexpressed in solid tumors across a broad range of hard-to-treat cancer types. Pheon is backed by expert, specialist healthcare investors TCGX, Atlas Venture, BVF Partners, Brandon Capital, Forbion, Lightspeed Venture Partners (Lightspeed), Perceptive Advisors, and Research Corporation Technologies. Pheon has a world class, proven leadership team that brings together the best of ADC engineering, clinical and managerial expertise, and track record. For further information, please visit www.pheontx.com

About.TCGX
TCGX is a healthcare investment firm dedicated to advancing disruptive medicines and supporting companies that can improve the lives of patients. TCGX invests in both private and public companies led by exceptional entrepreneurs focused on developing better treatment options for patients. TCGX has investment teams in Palo Alto and New York City. For more information, please visit www.tcgcrossover.com

About BVF Partners

BVF Partners is a San Francisco-based investment management firm with a 30 year history of investing in public and private biotechnology companies. For more information, please visit: www.bvflp.com

About Lightspeed

Lightspeed Venture Partners is a multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, Health, and Fintech sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally including Affirm, Carta, Cato Networks, Epic Games, Faire, Forty Seven, Guardant Health, Mulesoft, Navan, Netskope, Nutanix, Rubrik, Sharechat, Snap, Udaan, Ultima Genomics and more. Lightspeed and its global team currently manage $25B in AUM across the Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia. www.lsvp.com

About Perceptive Advisors

Founded in 1999 and based in New York, NY, Perceptive Advisors is an investment management firm focused on supporting the progress of the life sciences industry by identifying opportunities and directing financial resources to the most promising technologies in healthcare. For more information about Perceptive, visit www.perceptivelife.com