On July 21, 2020 Glytherix, an unlisted public Australian immuno-oncology company, reported that it is actively seeking AUD 7m (USD 5m) in a Series A equity round, after securing up to AUD 6m in non-dilutive funding, said CEO Brad Walsh (Press release, Glytherix, JUL 21, 2020, View Source [SID1234565156]).
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The Sydney-based company has secured AUD 3m in grant funding from Round 9 of the Federal Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) program, as announced last week (16 July), with Sydney-based R&D Capital Partners agreeing to provide another AUD 3m once the AUD 7m is raised, Walsh said.
Glytherix, which is fielding interest from potential investors in Australia, the US, Hong Kong and China, including family offices and institutions, welcomes approaches from other interested investors, Walsh said. Its advisors are New York-and Melbournebased Biosynergy Partners and Sydney-based private placement firm Litmus Equity.
While the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic initially made it more difficult for the company to engage with potential investors, people are now used to the ‘new normal’ and it is proving easier to connect with people in their home offices, Walsh said.
Glytherix is confident of closing the raise in the next four to eight weeks with the credibility boost provided by the grant funding and on the back of advances made since the 2018 spin-off from its parent, Sydney-based non-invasive prostate cancer diagnostic developer Minomic, Walsh said.
It has completed a 12-patient first-in-human study for its Miltuximab antibody, which reached its primary endpoint of safety and tolerability, and its secondary endpoint of tumour targeting. The company now plans other pre-clinical work including a glioblastoma (brain cancer) study, he noted.
Equity capital raised will be used to support a Phase I trial in patients with prostate, pancreatic, bladder and glioblastoma cancers and will also be used to make more clinical-grade antibodies to prepare for a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Investigational New Drug (IND) application and a US Phase I trial, Walsh said.
The equity funding is expected to last two years, with financing options for a Phase II US trial including a NASDAQ listing, licensing deals or trade sales, he added. The company has some 200 shareholders comprising management and high net worth investors.
In collaboration with other Australian companies and research bodies, Glytherix will use grant funding to develop Miltuximab as a flagship molecule for radio-immunotherapies (RITs), which are combinations of radiation therapy and immunotherapy using antibodies to selectively deliver radiation to kill cancer cells, while limiting damage to healthy cells.
This is one of the most dynamic new areas in nuclear and radiochemistry with robust research and commercial interest globally, Walsh said, noting that Novartis [SWX:NOVN] paid some USD 6bn for both Advanced Accelerator Applications [NASDAQ:AAAP] and Endocyte [NASDAQ:ECYT] in 2018. Domestically, Telix [ASX:TLX] is also developing RITs, although for different disease indications to the ones Glytherix is targeting, he said.
Miltuximab is also being used for both imaging and immunotherapy applications, with this pairing of a precision diagnostic and a corresponding precision therapeutic having the potential to treat a wide range of cancers and position both Glytherix and Australia at the forefront of the theranostics industry, Walsh added.
by Louise Weihart in Sydney
Published by Acuris Mergermarket, an ION Group company