Company Founded by Drs. Philip Kantoff and Neil Bander, both Physicians Recognized for their Pioneering Work in Prostate Cancer and the Field of PSMA Imaging and Theranostics
CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA I May 3, 2023 I Convergent Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of next-generation radiopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer, today announced the completion of a $90 million Series A financing, led by OrbiMed and RA Capital Management with participation from Invus. The financing will support the development of a pipeline of novel radioantibodies, including its lead program with CONV01-α, for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.
Dr. Philip Kantoff, Convergent CEO, and Dr. Neil Bander, Chief Scientific Advisor to Convergent, co-founded the company with technology developed in the Bander Lab and licensed from Cornell University. Dr. Bander is the Bernard & Josephine Chaus Professor of Urologic Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine and is recognized worldwide for his contributions to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) biology and the related advancement of PSMA directed imaging and therapeutics. Dr. Bander and his colleagues were the first to validate PSMA as a target in cancer.
Dr. Kantoff is the former Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, former Chief of Solid Tumor Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jerome and Nancy Kohlberg Chair Emeritus at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kantoff contributed to the advancement of clinical biomarkers and multiple FDA-approved treatments for prostate cancer over his three decades of work as an academic oncologist.
“While considerable progress has been made in the search for effective treatments for prostate cancer, it continues to be the second leading cause of cancer death in men1, representing a significant unmet need,” said Dr. Kantoff. “This financing is an important milestone for Convergent and accelerated development of novel radioantibodies, beginning with CONV01-α. We view this program as a best-in-class, targeted treatment for prostate cancer and will be advancing CONV01-α clinical development over the immediate term. With the founding of Convergent, our focus has been on the amalgamation of world-class expertise to identify and develop new radiopharmaceutical treatments for a wide range of cancers.”
Tal Zaks, M.D., Ph.D., Partner at OrbiMed, said, “In our goal of improving healthcare for patients, we believe that Convergent Therapeutics’ radioantibody approach is ideally suited to treat cancer and bring effective breakthrough treatments to patients. We look forward to collaborating with the Convergent team, whose extensive expertise in prostate cancer, foundational leadership in radiopharmaceuticals and patient-focused mindset will be invaluable in taking the company forward.”
Jake Simson, Ph.D., Partner at RA Capital Management, added, “We are proud to support Convergent and believe its radioantibody technology is an exciting approach to radiopharmaceuticals that will have significant implications for patients. As we witness encouraging progress in the radiopharmaceutical field with new emerging therapies to treat various types of cancer, we believe that Convergent is well-positioned.”
In addition to initiating the next phase of clinical development for CONV01-α, Convergent Therapeutics is pursuing additional radioantibody targets to treat cancer. The company is currently evaluating other in-licensing and pipeline acquisition opportunities.
Citigroup acted as the sole placement agent for this transaction.
About Convergent Therapeutics, Inc.
Convergent Therapeutics Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing next-generation radiopharmaceutical therapies for prostate and other cancers. The company’s proprietary technology was developed by Dr. Neil Bander, Professor of Urologic Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine, and licensed to Convergent by Cornell University. CONV01-α, a monoclonal antibody conjugated to actinium-225 (Ac-225), a radioactive alpha particle emitter, was specifically designed to bind to the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA). A key functional feature of CONV01-α is that once bound to PSMA, it becomes internalized, delivering its powerful radioactive payload directly into prostate cancer cells while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. CONV01-α has the potential to be the first Ac-225 radioantibody approved for use in prostate cancer treatment. For more information, please visit www.convergentrx.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
About OrbiMed
OrbiMed is a leading healthcare investment firm, with over $17 billion in assets under management. OrbiMed invests globally across the healthcare industry through a range of private equity funds, public equity funds, and royalty/credit funds. OrbiMed’s team of over 100 professionals is based in New York City, San Francisco, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Herzliya, and other key global markets. www.orbimed.com
About RA Capital Management
RA Capital Management is a multi-stage investment manager dedicated to evidence-based investing in public and private healthcare and life science companies that are developing drugs, medical devices, and diagnostics. The flexibility of its strategy allows RA Capital Management to provide seed funding to startups and to lead private, IPO, and follow-on financings for its portfolio companies, allowing management teams to drive value creation from inception through commercialization. For more information, please visit www.racap.com.
About Invus
Founded in 1985 and with principal offices in New York, Paris and Hong Kong, The Invus Group is an evergreen investment platform with over USD9Bn of assets under management. On the private side, Invus typically focuses on making long-term investments in transformational opportunities with a high-touch approach. The firm has a unique experience in working with companies through their lifecycle from the earlier growth stage to becoming successful public companies. Since its inception in 2003, our Public Equity team has focused on investing in listed innovative biotech companies. Leveraging the team’s expertise and reputation in the sector, we launched our private biotech investment activity in 2014. Our Public Equity and Private Equity teams work closely together to build a selective portfolio of private companies focused on the most disruptive innovators in the biotech industry. Our evergreen fund structure with its long-term investment horizon allows us to invest in earlier rounds of financings and continue to support our portfolio companies before and after they go public. We have invested in over 80 private biotech companies in Series A, B, and later rounds. Examples include Moderna, BioNTech, Scholar Rock, Seer, Morphic, Generation Bio, Thrive Earlier Detection, Erasca, ElevateBio, Scorpion Therapeutics, and Schrodinger. Invus has a successful team of investment professionals with significant experience and expertise in the biotech sector. In addition, Invus leverages a team of senior advisors in the conduct of its biotech strategies.
References
- https://www.cancer.org/cancer/prostate-cancer/about/key-statistics.html
SOURCE: Convergent Therapeutics
Post Views: 109
Company Founded by Drs. Philip Kantoff and Neil Bander, both Physicians Recognized for their Pioneering Work in Prostate Cancer and the Field of PSMA Imaging and Theranostics
CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA I May 3, 2023 I Convergent Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of next-generation radiopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer, today announced the completion of a $90 million Series A financing, led by OrbiMed and RA Capital Management with participation from Invus. The financing will support the development of a pipeline of novel radioantibodies, including its lead program with CONV01-α, for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.
Dr. Philip Kantoff, Convergent CEO, and Dr. Neil Bander, Chief Scientific Advisor to Convergent, co-founded the company with technology developed in the Bander Lab and licensed from Cornell University. Dr. Bander is the Bernard & Josephine Chaus Professor of Urologic Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine and is recognized worldwide for his contributions to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) biology and the related advancement of PSMA directed imaging and therapeutics. Dr. Bander and his colleagues were the first to validate PSMA as a target in cancer.
Dr. Kantoff is the former Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, former Chief of Solid Tumor Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jerome and Nancy Kohlberg Chair Emeritus at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kantoff contributed to the advancement of clinical biomarkers and multiple FDA-approved treatments for prostate cancer over his three decades of work as an academic oncologist.
“While considerable progress has been made in the search for effective treatments for prostate cancer, it continues to be the second leading cause of cancer death in men1, representing a significant unmet need,” said Dr. Kantoff. “This financing is an important milestone for Convergent and accelerated development of novel radioantibodies, beginning with CONV01-α. We view this program as a best-in-class, targeted treatment for prostate cancer and will be advancing CONV01-α clinical development over the immediate term. With the founding of Convergent, our focus has been on the amalgamation of world-class expertise to identify and develop new radiopharmaceutical treatments for a wide range of cancers.”
Tal Zaks, M.D., Ph.D., Partner at OrbiMed, said, “In our goal of improving healthcare for patients, we believe that Convergent Therapeutics’ radioantibody approach is ideally suited to treat cancer and bring effective breakthrough treatments to patients. We look forward to collaborating with the Convergent team, whose extensive expertise in prostate cancer, foundational leadership in radiopharmaceuticals and patient-focused mindset will be invaluable in taking the company forward.”
Jake Simson, Ph.D., Partner at RA Capital Management, added, “We are proud to support Convergent and believe its radioantibody technology is an exciting approach to radiopharmaceuticals that will have significant implications for patients. As we witness encouraging progress in the radiopharmaceutical field with new emerging therapies to treat various types of cancer, we believe that Convergent is well-positioned.”
In addition to initiating the next phase of clinical development for CONV01-α, Convergent Therapeutics is pursuing additional radioantibody targets to treat cancer. The company is currently evaluating other in-licensing and pipeline acquisition opportunities.
Citigroup acted as the sole placement agent for this transaction.
About Convergent Therapeutics, Inc.
Convergent Therapeutics Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing next-generation radiopharmaceutical therapies for prostate and other cancers. The company’s proprietary technology was developed by Dr. Neil Bander, Professor of Urologic Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine, and licensed to Convergent by Cornell University. CONV01-α, a monoclonal antibody conjugated to actinium-225 (Ac-225), a radioactive alpha particle emitter, was specifically designed to bind to the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA). A key functional feature of CONV01-α is that once bound to PSMA, it becomes internalized, delivering its powerful radioactive payload directly into prostate cancer cells while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. CONV01-α has the potential to be the first Ac-225 radioantibody approved for use in prostate cancer treatment. For more information, please visit www.convergentrx.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
About OrbiMed
OrbiMed is a leading healthcare investment firm, with over $17 billion in assets under management. OrbiMed invests globally across the healthcare industry through a range of private equity funds, public equity funds, and royalty/credit funds. OrbiMed’s team of over 100 professionals is based in New York City, San Francisco, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Herzliya, and other key global markets. www.orbimed.com
About RA Capital Management
RA Capital Management is a multi-stage investment manager dedicated to evidence-based investing in public and private healthcare and life science companies that are developing drugs, medical devices, and diagnostics. The flexibility of its strategy allows RA Capital Management to provide seed funding to startups and to lead private, IPO, and follow-on financings for its portfolio companies, allowing management teams to drive value creation from inception through commercialization. For more information, please visit www.racap.com.
About Invus
Founded in 1985 and with principal offices in New York, Paris and Hong Kong, The Invus Group is an evergreen investment platform with over USD9Bn of assets under management. On the private side, Invus typically focuses on making long-term investments in transformational opportunities with a high-touch approach. The firm has a unique experience in working with companies through their lifecycle from the earlier growth stage to becoming successful public companies. Since its inception in 2003, our Public Equity team has focused on investing in listed innovative biotech companies. Leveraging the team’s expertise and reputation in the sector, we launched our private biotech investment activity in 2014. Our Public Equity and Private Equity teams work closely together to build a selective portfolio of private companies focused on the most disruptive innovators in the biotech industry. Our evergreen fund structure with its long-term investment horizon allows us to invest in earlier rounds of financings and continue to support our portfolio companies before and after they go public. We have invested in over 80 private biotech companies in Series A, B, and later rounds. Examples include Moderna, BioNTech, Scholar Rock, Seer, Morphic, Generation Bio, Thrive Earlier Detection, Erasca, ElevateBio, Scorpion Therapeutics, and Schrodinger. Invus has a successful team of investment professionals with significant experience and expertise in the biotech sector. In addition, Invus leverages a team of senior advisors in the conduct of its biotech strategies.
References
- https://www.cancer.org/cancer/prostate-cancer/about/key-statistics.html
SOURCE: Convergent Therapeutics
Post Views: 109
