Reverb Therapeutics, a leader in harnessing the natural immune system and cytokine signaling to treat life-threatening diseases, announced it has closed a $12 million financing led by founding investor Amplitude Ventures. And other participants in the round include the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation’s venture philanthropy arm, the Myeloma Investment Fund, KdT Ventures, Finchley Healthcare Ventures, InBC Investment Corp. (InBC), and Seido Capital.
Reverb’s novel Amplify•R platform combines bispecific antibody engineering with data-driven modeling of antibody interactions to modulate the actions of endogenous cytokines and redirect them to tissues of interest. And this approach avoids the hurdles that have blocked other attempts to enlist cytokines to treat disease, which include systemic toxicity, immunogenicity, and manufacturing issues. Reverb’s initial focus is on treating cancer and autoimmune diseases.
In vivo preclinical studies have established proof-of-concept for the Amplify•R platform’s ability to redirect endogenous cytokines and shrink tumors. And the data supports a growing body of evidence for the potency of bispecific antibodies redirecting cytokines to PD-1-positive cells. Reverb’s lead AMP01 program blocks PD-1 while delivering endogenous IL-15, a key protein that expands and activates cytotoxic T cells.
With the funding complete, Reverb welcomes two new members to its board of directors:
— Maude Tessier, Ph.D., is a longtime biopharma executive, two-time chief business officer and an experienced company builder
— Stephan Kontos, Ph.D., a biotech executive and entrepreneur, chairs the scientific advisory board at Anokion.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are excited to have the backing of this standout group of investors as we advance the Amplify•R platform. The Amplify•R platform has broad potential across many cytokines. With this funding, we will take our lead IL-15 bispecific program to the candidate stage and will develop additional bispecific programs spanning other cytokines and additional cellular targets.”
– David de Graaf, Ph.D., CEO of Reverb Therapeutics
“Since its launch, Reverb has made significant progress in demonstrating the superiority of the Amplify•R platform. The preclinical data generated to date are extremely exciting and we believe that the Amplify•R platform will enable Reverb to succeed where many attempts using exogenous cytokines ran into insurmountable obstacles.”
– Bharat Srinivasa, Ph.D., principal at Amplitude Ventures
