Pharmaceutical Business review

AnHeart Therapeutics raises $61m from Series B round

AnHeart’s lead asset, taletrectinib, is a next-generation ROS1 inhibitor presently in Phase 2 trials in non-small cell lung cancer. Credit: kalhh from Pixabay

The funding round had seen participation from Innovent Biologics, Cenova, Laurion Capital, and Sage Partners.

The firm has raised a total of $100m from private financings since it was established in December 2018.

It plans to use a part of the proceeds from the Series B financing to advance the clinical development of AnHeart’s lead asset, taletrectinib, a next-generation ROS1 inhibitor presently in Phase 2 trials in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The proceeds will also be used to support the continued expansion of its pipeline of precision next-generation oncology treatments.

AnHeart Therapeutics co-founder and CEO Junyuan (Jerry) Wang said: “AnHeart is delighted to partner with this group of top-tier, leading healthcare investors to advance development of our pipeline of precision oncology therapeutics. We have made tremendous progress since we founded AnHeart in 2018. This financing reflects strong support for our platform, people, and comprehensive development strategy.”

Octagon Capital founder Dr. Ting Jia said: “We were attracted to AnHeart by the excellent science, experienced management team and broad pipeline of targeted small molecule therapeutics.

“AnHeart’s lead asset taletrectinib is a promising potential new therapeutic in ROS1 fusion-positive lung cancer patients, with impressive preliminary Phase 2 clinical data reported at ASCO and CSCO this year. In addition, we see a tremendous opportunity for AnHeart’s pipeline to produce novel, targeted therapies to address significant unmet medical needs across a broad range of difficult-to-treat cancers.”