The Cancer Letter

Inside information on cancer research and drug development

In Brief

Gracell Bio enters into $150M private financing deal to expand on CAR T therapies

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on email
Share on print
BYLINE
IN THIS ISSUE
DOWNLOAD PDFTABLE OF CONTENTS

Gracell Biotechnologies Inc. has entered into a purchase agreement with a group of institutional and accredited healthcare specialist investors. Gracell will receive $100 million in proceeds from the private placement of ordinary shares, with up to an additional $50 million. 

The transaction includes participation from new and existing institutional investors and is being led by Vivo Capital, with participation from investors including Adage Capital Partners LP, Exome Asset Management, Janus Henderson Investors, Logos Capital, OrbiMed, Pivotal Life Sciences, RA Capital Management and TCGX, among others.

Gracell intends to use the net proceeds from the proposed financing to fund research and development of its clinical-stage product candidates and research programs and for working capital and other general corporate purposes. The aggregate proceeds from this proposed financing, combined with current cash, cash equivalents, is expected to be sufficient to fund the current operating plan into the second half of 2026.

Table of Contents

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

Clinical Roundup

VHIO’s novel CAR T-cell therapy demonstrates efficacy and safety in preclinical models of HER2-positive solid tumors

One-third of HER2-positive tumors express the P95HER2 protein, which associates with an aggressive form of breast cancer with a poorer prognosis. Investigators of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology’s Growth Factors Group, in collaboration with researchers of the Cancer Research Program of Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Barcelona, have developed novel chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy that can produce a potent antitumor response against p95HER2-expressing cells.
Clinical Roundup

Wugen launches phase II study of CD7-targeted CAR T for r/r T-ALL or T-ALL/LBL

Wugen Inc., a clinical-stage U.S. biotechnology company developing allogeneic, off-the-shelf cell therapies for the treatment of hematological and solid tumor malignancies, announced it will initiate a phase II study in the first quarter of 2025 for the company’s potential first-in-class, investigational, anti-CD7 CAR T-cell therapy, WU-CART-007, in patients with relapsed or refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia or T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma.
Clinical

Factors outside CAR T-cell therapy are associated with increased risk of secondary cancers after the treatment, meta-analysis shows
Subgroup analysis suggests risk of secondary cancers after CAR T-cell therapy is similar to risk after other therapies

A meta-analysis of 25 studies—totaling over 5,000 participants—focused on a question that has been troubling patients, physicians, and regulators: Does treatment with CAR T-cell therapy contribute to the development of secondary cancers?
By McKenzie Prillaman
Table of Contents

Never miss an issue!

Get alerts for our award-winning coverage in your inbox.

Login

Site license subscribers:
Log in with your IP | Register a sponsored account