22 July 2021 - - US-based biotechnology company Turnstone Biologics Corp has completed an USD 80m Series D financing co-led by PFM Health Sciences and Point72, the company said.

Additional new investors Eventide Asset Management, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Ridgeback Capital Investments, Takeda Ventures Inc., CaaS Capital, JM Family Enterprises, Inc., Northleaf Capital Partners, 404 Bio and an undisclosed investor were joined by existing investors Versant Ventures, OrbiMed, F-Prime Capital, Sectoral Asset Management, Sixty Degree Capital, Brace Pharma Capital and Teralys Capital.

Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance Turnstone's pipeline of programs from its oncolytic virus and TIL therapy platforms.

Turnstone's lead oncolytic virus candidate, RIVAL-01/TAK-605, is currently in the dose escalation stage of a Phase 1/2a clinical study in solid tumors conducted in collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical company Ltd.

The product is derived from the company's proprietary vaccinia virus platform that has been engineered for enhanced immune-stimulation and tumor cell selectivity, large transgene carrying capacity for local expression of encoded therapeutics, and with flexibility for both intratumoral and intravenous delivery.

Turnstone's lead TIL therapy candidate, TIDAL-01, is expected to enter clinical development by early next year.

The program builds on clinically validated treatment protocols while enriching for the most relevant T-cells for tumor eradication, preserving broad antigen diversity, and minimizing time to treatment for patients, with the ultimate goal of extending the benefit of TIL therapy across a wider range of solid tumor types.

Concurrent with the financing, Santhosh Palani, Ph.D., CFA, Partner at PFM Health Sciences, will join the company's board of directors.

Turnstone Biologics, a privately held clinical stage biotech company, is developing breakthrough cancer immunotherapies by advancing two platforms, both independently and in combination, that drive innate and adaptive tumor immunity to provide benefit to the millions of cancer patients underserved by current treatment options.

Turnstone's proprietary vaccinia virus platform is engineered to drive coordinated immune activation, potent viral activity and local expression of encoded therapeutics.

The company has an ongoing Phase 1/2a trial in solid tumors (RAPTOR) for its leading oncolytic virus candidate, RIVAL-01/TAK-605, which is being developed under a global collaboration with Takeda.

The novel TIL therapy platform leverages clinically validated treatment protocols and has been specifically designed to extend beyond the use of bulk TILs to enrich for the most relevant T-cells for tumor eradication, preserving broad antigen diversity and minimizing time to treatment for patients.

Turnstone is expecting the lead TIL therapy candidate, TIDAL-01, to enter the clinic by early 2022.