USA – Fortis Therapeutics, Inc., a San Diego, CA-based immuno-oncology biotech company, closed a $40m Series A financing.
Backers included Avalon Ventures, Bregua Corporation, Lilly Asia Ventures, Osage University Partners, and Vivo Capital, as well as new investors, the Myeloma Investment Fund, the venture philanthropy fund of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), and Fulcrum 2020, LLC, which shares a portion of its profits with the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) to fund future research. The company intends to use the funds to advance FOR46 in clinical trials for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).Led by Jay Lichter, Ph.D., President and CEO, Fortis Therapeutics is an immuno-oncology biotech developing a novel antibody-drug conjugate for late-stage multiple myeloma and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. For the clinical study in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, the company has completed single patient cohorts and dose finding and is now enrolling patients in an expansion cohort for treatment with 2.4 mg/kg or FOR46 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03650491). For the clinical study in mCRPC, Fortis has completed patient enrollment in the dose escalation cohorts (up to 3.0 kg/mg) and is beginning enrollment in dose expansion cohorts in mCRPC and additional indications (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03575819).The company was founded based on technology exclusively licensed from UCSF and developed in the laboratory of Bin Liu, Ph.D.30/03/2021
