Ariceum Therapeutics – a private biotech company developing radiopharmaceutical products for the diagnosis and treatment of certain hard-to-treat cancers – announced the successful completion of a Series A extension financing, raising a further €22.75 million, following the €25 million Series A financing announced in June 2022. The funding round was co-led by new investors Andera Partners and Earlybird Venture Capital with participation from existing investor Pureos Bioventures, now doubling its original investment in the Company. As part of the funding, Olivier Litzka, Partner at Andera Partners, and Christoph Massner, Principal at Earlybird, will join the Ariceum Board of Directors. Ariceum plans to use the proceeds from the funding to advance its clinical pipeline and to further build the company focusing on its lead asset and proprietary peptide derivative, Satoreotide, as well as building a pipeline of further projects.
Satoreotide is a radiopharmaceutical drug and an antagonist of the somatostatin type 2 (SST2) receptor which is overexpressed in many cancers, which included certain neuroendocrine and other aggressive, hard-to-treat cancers with poor prognoses such as small cell lung cancer (SCLC). And Ariceum plans to use satoreotide as a ‘theranostic’ for both the diagnosis and treatment of tumors expressing the SST2 receptor. Satoreotide is in early clinical development and as of today has been administered to more than 100 patients including over 150 therapeutic administrations in different indications.
KEY QUOTES:
“As we continue to make promising progress at Ariceum, the new funds will allow us to advance our clinical pipeline of diagnosis, monitoring and precision treatments to improve the lives of those facing very challenging cancers. The additional investment is a strong endorsement of our targeted radiotherapy product and reflects the opportunity that radiopharmaceutical drugs offer in visualizing and treating cancer. We are very pleased to welcome both Andera Partners and Earlybird Venture Capital to our investment syndicate and would like to thank our existing investors for their continued support.”
– Manfred Rüdiger, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Ariceum Therapeutics
“At Andera we have been following the radiopharmaceuticals space for some time, looking for an opportunity to support a compelling project. As a result, we are now very happy to be able to back the talented and experienced team of Ariceum with a first clinical project centered around a meaningful disease application in Small Cell Lung Cancer. It is great to support the company in its bold ambition to build a pipeline of radiopharma projects through deals and partnerships. We are also joining an already powerful board of experts and strong European VCs. Altogether, we believe these are solid grounds to build a leading biotech company in the radiopharmaceuticals field.”
– Olivier Litzka, PhD, Partner of Andera Partners
“We are delighted to support Ariceum as it advances its proprietary clinical programs to address aggressive cancers with a poor prognosis. Earlybird is especially excited about Ariceum’s ability to stratify patients for treatment via its theranostics approach. This will provide the best possible patient outcomes and attractive health economics. I look forward to working with Ariceum’s experienced management team and strong investor base as it enters its next development stage.”
– Christoph Massner, PhD, Principal of Earlybird Venture Capital
