Halda Therapeutics Secures $126 Million in Series B Extension to Advance RIPTAC Cancer Therapies

Halda Therapeutics, a biotechnology company specializing in cancer treatments, has announced the successful completion of a $126 million Series B extension financing. The funds, which bring the company's total capital raised to $202 million, were secured from a diverse group of new and existing investors.

New participants in the round include Deep Track Capital, Frazier Life Sciences, RA Capital Management, Vida Ventures, Boxer Capital, and Taiho Ventures, while existing backers such as Canaan Partners, Access Biotechnology, Elm Street Ventures, and Connecticut Innovations continued their support.

The newly raised capital will be pivotal in advancing Halda's novel cancer therapy candidates, developed under their proprietary RIPTAC™ (Regulated Induced Proximity Targeting Chimeras) platform. RIPTAC therapeutics are engineered as heterobifunctional molecules that induce a unique "hold and kill" mechanism, targeting and binding two specific proteins to eliminate cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. This approach is designed to overcome drug resistance, a significant challenge in current cancer treatments.

Halda's lead candidate, HLD-0915, is slated to enter Phase 1 clinical trials in the first half of 2025. This drug targets metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), a form of cancer notorious for its resistance to standard therapies. Alongside this, the company is preparing to advance a second RIPTAC therapeutic aimed at treating metastatic breast cancer.

See also: Five AI-driven Drug Discovery Companies Enabling Precision Oncology

The financing will also enable Halda to expand its team and explore additional applications of the RIPTAC platform across other cancer types, addressing areas of high unmet medical need. Dr. Kat Kayser-Bricker, Chief Scientific Officer of Halda Therapeutics, emphasized the significance of the support from new healthcare investors and the potential impact of their cancer-targeting mechanism.

In conjunction with this funding round, Halda announced that key investors, including Rebecca Luse of Deep Track Capital, Joe Cabral of Frazier Life Sciences, Nandita Shangari of RA Capital Management, and Arjun Goyal of Vida Ventures, will join the company's Board of Directors, bringing valuable expertise to the development and commercialization of these innovative therapies.

Topics: Startups & Deals