AdvanCell Completes $112 Million Oversubscribed Series C Financing

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AdvanCell, a Sydney, Australia-based, clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company founded in 2019 that specializes in the development of cancer therapeutics, has successfully completed an oversubscribed, $112 million round of Series C financing (1). The company announced the milestone in a press release on Feb. 3, 2025.

Funding was co-led by SV Health Investors, Sanofi Ventures, Abingworth, and SymBiosis, with additional support from existing investor Morningside and new investors Tenmile and Brandon Capital, among others (1).

“We are delighted to support AdvanCell’s growth and play a role in its remarkable journey through leading this oversubscribed Series C,” Jamil M. Beg, partner at SV Health Investors, said in the AdvanCell press release (1). “The company’s exceptional team, technologies, robust infrastructure, collaborations with some of the world’s largest pharma companies, and ability to consistently execute position it to truly change outcomes for patients.”

Beg has joined the AdvanCell board of directors as part of the financing, along with Christopher Gagliardi of Sanofi Ventures and Bali Muralidhar of Abingworth (1).

The mission of AdvanCell was originally built around targeted alpha-emitting radionuclides for cancer therapy, and, to that end, the company currently operates a 40,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, with a workforce of 60 (1). AdvanCell plans to expand manufacturing capacity even further and accelerate clinical development of its radionuclide therapy pipeline with the Series C funding.

Patient enrollment is currently underway for the highest-dose cohort of a multi-center, Phase I/II dose escalation clinical trial of ADVC001, which AdvanCell said may be a potentially best-in-class targeted alpha therapy for metastatic prostate cancer. According to the press release, the aim of the trial is to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of radionuclide treatment based on Pb-212, a lead isotope (1).

“This successful Series C round demonstrates strong confidence in our vision and capabilities,” said Andrew Adamovich, CEO of AdvanCell, in the press release (1). “We are grateful for the continued support from our existing investors, particularly the long-term support from Morningside and are excited to welcome new partners who share our commitment to transforming cancer care. With this funding, AdvanCell is well-positioned to scale our manufacturing operations and progress our cutting-edge therapies towards commercialization.”

Elsewhere in Australia, the nonprofit organization Genetic Cures for Kids launched a collaboration with United States contract development and manufacturing organization PackGene Biotech, and the Belfer Gene Therapy Core Center at Weill Cornell Medicine, to deliver an accessible, custom-tailored gene therapy solution for treating hereditary spastic paraplegia type 56, an ultra-rare neurological disease, as announced by PackGene on Jan. 8, 2025 (2).

Additionally, North Melbourne-based Telix Pharmaceuticals announced on Jan. 13, 2025 that it had entered into an asset purchase agreement with ImaginAb, of Inglewood, Calif. in the US, to acquire a pipeline of next-generation therapeutic candidates and a protein engineering and research facility (3).

On the cancer front, the European Commission approved a marketing authorization as of Jan. 21, 2025 for two Johnson & Johnson treatments for advanced non-small cell lung cancer, Lazcluze (lazertinib) in combination with Rybrevant (amivantamab) (4). And on January 22, AstraZeneca announced that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence gave positive recommendations to its Imfinzi (durvalumab) and Tagrisso (osimertinib) for treatment of lung cancer patients in England and Wales (5).

References

1. AdvanCell. AdvanCell Successfully Completes an Oversubscribed US$112M Series C Financing. Press Release. Feb. 3, 2025.
2. PackGene Biotech. A Global Alliance to Save Lives: How Two Parents and PackGene Are Redefining What’s Possible in Gene Therapy with Help from Weill Cornell Medicine. Press Release. Jan. 8, 2025.
3. Telix Pharmaceuticals. Telix to Acquire Next-Generation Therapeutic Assets and Innovative Biologics Technology Platform. Press Release. Jan. 13, 2025.
4. Johnson & Johnson. European Commission Approves Lazcluze (lazertinib) in Combination with Rybrevant (amivantamab) for the First-Line Treatment of Patients with EGFR-Mutated Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Press Release. Jan. 21, 2025.
5. AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca Receives Two Positive NICE Recommendations for Lung Cancer Patients Across England and Wales. Press Release. Jan. 22, 2025.