Crossbow Therapeutics has successfully hit a $77 million series B round, which the biotech will use to fund a trial of its lead T-cell engager (TCE) and fill its quiver with more T-Bolts.
The latest financing was co-led by Taiho Ventures and Arkin Bio Capital and saw previous Big Pharma backers Eli Lilly and Pfizer Ventures return. Those companies joined the likes of MPM BioImpact, BVF Partners, Polaris Partners and Mirae Asset Venture Investment, with newcomers spanning Sixty Degree Capital, Hamilton Square Partners Management, LifeLink Ventures, Libbs Ventures and Blood Cancer United’s Therapy Acceleration Program.
Crossbow’s top spending priority for the fresh funds is an ongoing phase 1 trial of CBX-250, a TCE designed to target a peptide human leukocyte antigen (pHLA) that’s found on myeloid cancer cells. A readout from the trial—which has enrolled patients with acute myeloid leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia—is due at the end of 2026.
Some of the cash will also be used to advance development of its other so-called T-Bolt immunotherapies, which use TCR-mimetic antibodies to target pHLA on cancer cells. Crossbow has big plans for this pipeline, suggesting they can be “adapted to address a broad range of malignancies, potentially targeting the entire universe of cancer proteins.”
One of these therapies, which specifically targets telomerase reverse transcriptase-derived pHLA, is being readied for its own phase 1 study. The hope is to kick off the trial for the TCE, dubbed CBX-663, for hematologic and solid tumors in the third quarter.
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Crossbow was incubated at MPM BioImpact before launching in 2023 with $80 million in series A funds. The biotech is helmed by Briggs Morrison, M.D., a former chief medical officer of AstraZeneca who had also served at Pfizer, Merck & Co. and as CEO of Syndax Pharmaceuticals.
In this morning’s release, Morrison said the series B round “not only strengthens our ability to advance CBX-250 through clinical development but also accelerates our mission to bring next-generation TCR-mimetic immunotherapies to patients who urgently need new options.”
“We look forward to efficiently expanding our pipeline to address cancers that remain beyond the reach of today’s therapies,” Morrison added.
