ImCheck Therapeutics SAS raises €48m

The €48m financing was co-led by Pfizer Ventures, the venture capital arm of Pfizer Inc., and Bpifrance, with the new investors Wellington Partners, Agent Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments participating. Life Sciences Partners (LSP), Gimv, Idinvest Partners, Kurma Partners and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, who contributed to the €20m Series A round two years ago, confirmed thier committment with a sigificant contribution to the raise.

ImCheck Therapeutics announced the proceeds will be used to finance clinical testing of ImCheck’s lead monoclonal antibody ICT01 starting in H1/2020. The antibody, which targets BTN3A (CD277) on T and NK cells, is overexpressed by breast cancer, gastric, ovarian cancer cells and other solid solid tumours and in patients with AML and other blood cancers. BTN3A is essential for the activation of γ9δ2 T cells in response to the intracellular accumulation of phosphoantigens (pAgs), a set of small organic pyrophosphates produced both by hot (inflamed) tumour cells and cells that are stressed by inflammation, i.e. by autoimmune diseases.

The company said, it also intends to expand its pipeline of immunomodulators targeting the butyrophilins super-family and to bring additional immuno-oncology antibody programs into the clinic. According to Pierre d’Epenoux, Chief Executive Officer at ImCheck Therapeutics, a part of the proceeds will be used to "establish clinical operations and corporate development activities in the US.”

Upon the financing Michael Baran from Pfizer Ventures, Thibaut Roulon from Bpifrance, Regina Hodits from Wellington, Rémi Droller from Kurma, Vincent Brichard from LSP, Bram Vanparys from Gimv joined ImCheck’s Board of Directors chaired by Debasish Roychowdhury. The new investors said they believe in the company’s approach to activate gammadelta T cells in order to treat cancers and autoimmune diseases.

ImCheck benefits from support from Prof. Daniel Olive (INSERM, CNRS, Institut Paoli Calmettes, Aix-Marseille Université), a worldwide leader in gd T cells and butyrophilins research.