26 February 2021 - - US-based oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc has closed a USD 120m series B financing. New investor Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners led the financing, the company said.

Other new investors participating in the financing included Acuta Capital Partners, Cormorant Asset Management, EcoR1 Capital, Franklin Templeton, Janus Henderson Investors, Logos Capital, RTW Investments, LP, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Wellington Management company, and an undisclosed leading global investment firm.

Existing investors, 5AM Ventures, RA Capital Management, and venBio Partners, along with strategic partners GC LabCell (Green Cross LabCell Corp., KRX: 14451) and GC (Green Cross Holdings Corp., KRX:005250), also participated in the financing.

Artiva plans to use the proceeds from the financing to advance its NK cell therapy development programs and expand ongoing research and development activities.

Artiva's cell therapies are designed to leverage the innate anti-tumor biology and safety features of NK cells.

The therapies are optimized for targeted anti-cancer activity through CARs, or ADCC enhancement through therapeutic antibody or innate-cell engager combination therapy.

Artiva's manufacturing platform supports large-scale production and cryopreservation of off-the-shelf allogeneic NK cell therapies, and proprietary CAR-NK and NK-specific gene-editing technologies to augment therapeutic activity.

Artiva's mission is to deliver to cancer patients highly effective cellular immunotherapies that are safe and immediately accessible.

Artiva's pipeline includes AB-101, an ADCC enhancer NK-cell therapy for use in combination with monoclonal antibodies or innate-cell engagers.

The company is currently advancing a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of AB-101 in combination with rituximab for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphomas.

The company's CAR-NK programs include AB-201, a novel HER2-specific CAR-NK cell therapy for the treatment of HER2+ solid tumors, and AB-202, a CD19-specific CAR-NK cell therapy for the treatment of B-cell malignancies, which are being developed under Artiva's master license and option agreement with GC LabCell Corp., with plans to enter clinical trials in 2022.

The company has entered into therapeutic NK cell collaborations and/or license agreements with Merck and with Affimed N.V.

Artiva's NK cell platform incorporates cell expansion, activation, and engineering technology developed by the company's corporate partner, GC LabCell, a member of the GC family of companies, one of the Republic of Korea's leading biopharmaceutical groups. Artiva is headquartered in San Diego.