Novo Holdings co-leads $181.4 million Series D financing in Alentis Therapeutics to advance groundbreaking antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for solid tumours

• Funding to support development of first-in-class CLDN1 targeted medicines
• Strong syndicate of international life science investors
• One of the largest ADC-focused private fundraisings globally in 2024

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Nov. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Novo Holdings, a leading global life science investor, today announced that it has co-led a $181.4 million Series D financing in Alentis Therapeutics ("Alentis"). Alentis is a clinical-stage biotechnology company, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, which is developing a pipeline of Claudin-1 (CLDN1) targeted medicines.

This financing will enable Alentis to begin Phase 1/2 trials for two first-in-class ADCs: ALE.P02, which targets advanced or metastatic CLDN1+ squamous solid tumours with a tubulin inhibitor payload, and ALE.P03, which targets CLDN1+ tumours with a distinct topoisomerase I inhibitor payload. FDA clearance is already obtained for ALE.P02, with clinical trials expected to commence in Q1 2025. For ALE.P03, a first-in-human trial in patients with CLDN1+ tumours is subsequently planned to start in 2025.

The oversubscribed Series D round was led by OrbiMed, with Novo Holdings and Jeito Capital acting as co-leads. The financing round included new participation from Frazier Life Sciences, Longitude Capital, Catalio Capital, Piper Heartland Healthcare Capital, and Avego Bioscience Capital, along with continued support from existing backers including notably RA Capital Management, Morningside Venture Investments, BB Pureos and BPI France through its InnoBio 2 fund.

Naveed Siddiqi, Senior Partner, Venture Investments, Novo Holdings and Board Member of Alentis Therapeutics, said: "ADCs have shown their potential to be highly effective anti-cancer treatments. Alentis has an exciting pipeline of first-in-class ADCs. We look forward to seeing the data generated from the first clinical trials of ALE.P02 and ALE.P03."

Roberto Iacone, Chief Executive Officer of Alentis Therapeutics, added: "This financing is a testament to the transformational potential of CLDN1 ADCs for the treatment of solid tumours. Let me take this opportunity to extend a warm welcome to our new investors. We're excited to execute our development strategy and deliver clinical data for our programs over the next 12–18 months."

About Novo Holdings A/S

Novo Holdings is a holding and investment company that is responsible for managing the assets and the wealth of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The purpose of Novo Holdings is to improve people's health and the sustainability of society and the planet by generating attractive long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Novo Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk A/S and Novonesis A/S (Novozymes A/S) and manages an investment portfolio with a long-term return perspective. In addition to managing a broad portfolio of equities, bonds, real estate, infrastructure and private equity assets, Novo Holdings is a world-leading life sciences investor. Through its Seed, Venture, Growth, Asia, Planetary Health Investments and Principal Investments teams, Novo Holdings invests in life science companies at all stages of development.

As of year-end 2023, Novo Holdings had total assets of EUR 149 billion. www.novoholdings.dk

About Alentis Therapeutics

Alentis Therapeutics, the CLDN1 company, is a clinical-stage biotech developing breakthrough treatments for CLDN1+ tumours. CLDN1 is a previously unexploited target that plays a key role in the pathology of cancer and fibrotic disease. Alentis is the leading company pioneering anti-CLDN1 ADCs and antibodies to modify and reverse the course of select diseases.

Alentis was founded based on ground-breaking research in the laboratory of Prof. Thomas Baumert, MD at the University of Strasbourg and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). Alentis is headquartered at the pharma-biotech hub in Basel, Switzerland with an R&D subsidiary in Strasbourg, France and clinical operations in the US. Visit www.alentis.ch