Araris Biotech closes USD 24 million financing round

04.10.2022 16:30, Tracy Woodley

Araris Biotech, a company pioneering a proprietary antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)-linker technology, today announced the closing of a $24 million financing round, bringing the total funds raised to $40 million to date. The startup won a Venture Kick award in 2019 and was one of the Venture Leaders Life Sciences in 2020. In addition, Araris Biotech was featured at the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.

Araris Biotech is pioneering the development of its novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)-linker technology to enable efficient and precise production of ADCs. Its linker platform enables the attachment of any drug payload to ‘off-the-shelf’ antibodies, without the need for prior antibody engineering. The resulting ADCs have shown very high activity at low doses and an improved therapeutic index compared to multiple FDA-approved ADCs. Araris is a spin-off company from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and ETH Zurich.

The round was co-led by 4BIO Capital and Pureos Bioventures, with participation from new investors, including Wille AG and the Institute for Follicular Lymphoma Innovation. The round also included participation from existing investors VI Partners, Schroders Capital, btov Partners and Redalpine. Damir Illich, Ph.D. from Wille AG and Sophie Allauzen, Ph.D. from the Institute for Follicular Lymphoma Innovation will also be joining the Araris team as board observers.

Proceeds from the financing will be used to support the further development and advancement of Araris’ antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidates, created using the Company’s proprietary linker technology, as Araris moves closer towards clinical development.


The Araris Biotech co-founders: Dr. Philipp Spycher (CEO), Dr. Isabella Attinger-Toller (Senior VP Translational Research), Dr. Dragan Grabulovski (Chairman of the Board), Dr. Martin Behe, and Professor Dr. Roger Schibli.

“We’re thrilled to have support from this group of investors who recognize the potential of our linker technology in this exciting and growing ADC field and look forward to using these proceeds to support our efforts in advancing our ADC candidates toward the clinic,” said Philipp Spycher, Ph.D., chief executive officer at Araris Biotech. “Our linker technology has enabled us to create ADCs in a single conjugation step. The resulting ADCs have shown a significantly improved therapeutic index and favorable biophysical properties in preclinical studies to date, and an ability to address the limitations of current ADCs on the market. This fundraising will allow us to move closer to our goal of bringing these therapies to patients in need of better treatment options.”

Dmitry Kuzmin, Ph.D., managing partner at 4BIO Capital, added, “Araris continues to make waves in the industry with its pioneering linker technology, enabling fast and precise production of ADCs. Having invested in Araris’ seed round, we are now delighted to co-lead the latest round to ensure that Araris can unlock the potential of its differentiated technology and bring highly effective therapies to patients across the world.”

Dominik Escher, Ph.D., founding partner at Pureos Bioventures stated, “We are pleased to continue our support for Araris in this financing round as the company advances the next generation of antibody-drug conjugates with the potential to help cancer patients in the future.”
 
Araris Biotech won a Venture Kick award in 2019 and was one of the Venture Leaders Life Sciences in 2020. In addition, the startup was featured at the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.

Source: Araris Biotech press release and website.