Crossbow raises Series A funds to develop cancer antibodies

Crossbow Therapeutics has raised Series A funds worth $80m to develop a new class of antibody treatments for cancer.

MPM BioImpact and Pfizer Ventures led the funding round, with Polaris Partners, BVF Partners and Eli Lilly and Company among others taking part.

Proceeds will be used to progress the development of new therapies that act on peptide-loaded major histocompatibility complexes (pMHCs) present on cancer cells. 

To target pMHCs, these therapies will leverage antibodies that imitate T-cell receptors (TCR-mimetics).

The company will identify, validate and select the most promising cancer-specific targets, then create TCR-mimetic antibodies that have greater levels of cancer cell affinity and specificity. 

Such TCR-mimetics will be merged with off-the-shelf T-cell engagers and immunotherapies to create tumour-bolt (T-Bolt) molecules.

These T-Bolts can be tailored to treat a variety of cancers.

Crossbow Therapeutics CEO Briggs Morrison stated: “With unparalleled accuracy and potency, our revolutionary T-Bolt products strike cancer cells like a crossbow shoots bolts at its target. 

“The influx of additional capital enables us to scale our efforts to build an arsenal of TCR-mimetic-based immunotherapies designed to overcome the limitations of current treatments.”