Swiss oncology company ADC Therapeutics raised $200 million private financing

Just days after Gilead and its new subsidiary Kite won a groundbreaking FDA approval for their CAR-T therapy Yescarta for B-cell lymphomas, Lausanne, ADC Therapeutics (ADCT), an oncology drug discovery and development company that specializes in the development of proprietary Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs) targeting major cancers, announced that it has raised $200 million through a private placement. The financing was oversubscribed and supported by both existing and new investors, including Auven Therapeutics, Redmile, the Wild Family Office and AstraZeneca.

The latest round brings ADC’s total venture take to $455 million, positioning them for a pair of Phase II studies that potentially could put them in line for an accelerated approval — particularly if they come close to matching the original proof-of-concept data that was posted last June.

Chris Martin was one of the original board members at ADC back in 2011 when the biotech was launched. Almost exactly three years ago he helped arrange the sale of the UK’s Spirogen — where he was CEO — to AstraZeneca in a $440 million deal, which the pharma giant paired with a $20 million investment in ADC. AstraZeneca matched that investment with an unspecified licensing deal with ADC which is in the clinic. Auven Therapeutics — founded by Stephen Evans-Freke and Peter Corr in Lausanne — funded both companies and Martin became the CEO at ADC two years ago.

Dr. Chris Martin, CEO of ADC Therapeutics, said: "With more than 250 patients dosed, and encouraging data to be presented at the upcoming congress of the American Society of Hematology, this financing is a key step in our strategy and will enable us to accelerate our lead programs and to continue to develop our pipeline." Since ist inception by major shareholder Auven Therapeutics in 2012, ADC Therapeutics has raised US$455m to advance its pipeline of proprietary ADCs.