Jul 26, 2018

Sutro Biopharma, Inc. , a South San Francisco, CA-based developer of a pipeline of novel cancer therapeutics, secured $85.4m in Series E financing. The round was led by Samsara BioCapital and Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), and supported by current investors, Alta Partners, Amgen Ventures, Celgene Corporation, Lilly Ventures, Skyline Ventures and SV Health Investors and new investors Eventide, Nexthera Capital, Vida Ventures and funds managed by Tekla Capital Management LLC, as well as Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. In conjunction with the funding, Mike Dybbs, PhD, Partner at Samsara BioCapital, will join the Sutro Board of Directors. The company intends to use the funds to develop a pipeline of novel cancer therapeutics, including two internally-developed antibody drug conjugates, or ADCs, known as STRO-001, now in Phase 1 clinical testing for lymphoma and multiple myeloma, and STRO-002, which is expected to enter clinical trials for ovarian and endometrial cancer by early 2019. The proceeds will also be used to further early stage programs and continued platform technology advancement. STRO-001 and STRO-002 were developed using Sutro’s proprietary cell-free protein synthesis and site-specific conjugation platforms. Led by CEO Bill Newell, Sutro Biopharma is a clinical-stage drug discovery, development and manufacturing company creating a broad variety of optimally designed, next-generation protein therapeutics for oncology and autoimmune disorders based on its proprietary integrated cell-free protein synthesis and site-specific conjugation platforms, XpressCF™ and XpressCF+™. To date, the company has designed cytokine-based immuno-oncology therapeutics, ADCs, and bispecific antibodies directed primarily against clinically-validated targets where the current standard of care can be suboptimal. In addition to developing its own oncology pipeline, Sutro is collaborating with select pharmaceutical and biotech companies to discover and develop novel, next generation therapeutics. FinSMEs 26/07/2018