ADC Therapeutics Rakes in $303 Million with Addition to its Series E

ADC Therapeutics
Published on: July 10, 2019
Author: Amy Liu

ADC Therapeutics, headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, closed on a $103 million Series E financing expansion, bringing the total proceeds to $303 million. The final expansion round included a $25 million investment from a new U.S.-based institutional investor in addition to funds from existing investors. The funds will be used to complete enrollment in the company’s pivotal Phase II trial of ADCT-402 in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large -cell lymphoma (DLBCL), which is expecting interim data in the second half of the year. The drug is also being studied in a Phase Ib trial in combination with Johnson & Johnson’s Imbruvica (ibrutinib) in patients with r/r DLBCL or mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), as well as a Phase Ib trial in combination with AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi (durvalumab) in r/r DLBCL, MCL or follicular lymphoma. ADC also plans to begin a Phase II trial of ADCT-301 in r/r Hodgkin lymphoma soon. It is also being studied in a Phase Ib trial in selective advanced solid tumors. “We are delighted to welcome a new blue-chip institutional investor to our shareholder base,” stated Chris Martin, ADC’s chief executive officer. “This financing provides us with a strong balance sheet to fund preparations for a potential Biologics License Application (BLA) for ADCT-402 (loncastuximab tesirine) in relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the second half of 2020, as well as for initiating in the coming months a pivotal Phase II trial of ADCT-301 (camidanlumab tesirine) in Hodgkin lymphoma based on our recent end of Phase I meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.” On June 21, ADC presented data from subgroup analyses of its 183-patient Phase I trial of ADCT-402 and 128-patient Phase I trial of ADCT-301. They also presented clinical data for both drugs in combination. The data was presented at the 15th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (15-ICML) in Lugano, Switzerland. For the ADCT-402 study, older patients had a higher overall response rate (ORR) than younger patients, and the median duration of response (DoR) was longer for refractory patients than relapsed patients. The drug showed significant activity in a wide range of lymphoma cell lines and showed strong synergy with chemotherapy venetoclax, Gilead’s Zydelig (idelalisib) and chemotherapy bendamustine. “The ADCT-402 data presented at 15-ICML demonstrate its significant anti-tumor activity and manageable tolerability profile at doses greater than or equal to 120 microgram/kg in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL),” stated John Radford, Professor of Medical Oncology at The University of Manchester and Director of Research at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, UK. “It is particularly encouraging to see the responses in older patients and patients with transformed or primary refractory disease, as in many cases these are very frail and sick patients who have not responded to multiple previous therapies.” For ADCT-301, ORR for the 45 microgram/kg dosing was 86.5% and ORR was high across all subgroups, which suggested significant anti-tumor activity. It also showed strong preclinical activity as a monotherapy and in combination in lymphoma cell lines. Source: Biospace

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