Immunitas Therapeutics Completes $58 Million Series B Financing to Advance Pipeline into the Clinic and Expand Single Cell Analysis Drug Development Platform for Immuno-Oncology and Other Diseases

WALTHAM, Mass., Aug. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Immunitas Therapeutics ("Immunitas"), a single cell genomics-based therapeutics company, today announced the completion of a $58 million Series B financing led by Agent Capital with participation from Medical Excellence Capital (MEC), 120 Capital, Solasta Ventures, Mirae Asset, Ono Venture Investment, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, NS Investment, BrightEdge (American Cancer Society), and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Therapy Acceleration Program® (LLS TAP). Existing investors Alexandria Venture Investments, Evotec, Leaps by Bayer, M Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund (NVF), and founding investor Longwood Fund also joined the round. As part of the financing, Geeta Vemuri, PhD, MBA, Managing Partner and Founder of Agent Capital, and Brian Halak, PhD, on behalf of MEC will join the Immunitas Board of Directors. 

"Immunitas has made tremendous strides in the past year. This Series B financing is a key inflection point for the company and will enable us to drive IMT-009 rapidly into the clinic, while continuing to build and validate our pipeline of novel oncology programs," said Jeffrey Goldberg, Chief Executive Officer of Immunitas Therapeutics. "Our single cell technology platform allows our team to incorporate insights from human biology throughout the discovery and development process, enabling us to rapidly move towards serving patients in need."

The Series B funding will be used to advance Immunitas' lead program, IMT-009, a CD161 inhibitor, into the clinic to treat both solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Both blockade and knockout of CD161 in preclinical systems have shown enhanced tumor-killing, increases in critical cytokines, and increased survival. The company expects to file its first Investigational New Drug application (IND) in 1H 2022 for IMT-009. This financing builds on the $39 million Series A financing secured in 2019. Immunitas Therapeutics was founded by Kai Wucherpfennig, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, K. Dane Wittrup, PhD, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Mario Suvà, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and Aviv Regev, PhD, MIT.

"Immunitas is focused on creating impactful therapies that modulate oncology targets, driven by a cross-functional platform that combines single cell analysis computation and molecular and cellular biology to rapidly identify and validate new targets," said Geeta Vemuri of Agent Capital. "This approach is well suited to provide powerful translational insights into biomarker and indication selection with long-term potential beyond IO."

In addition, Amanda Wagner, MBA, has been appointed Chief Business Officer in recognition of her significant contributions to the company's business and corporate development. Ms. Wagner was one of the earliest employees of Immunitas, joining the company in October 2019 as Vice President of Strategy. Ms. Wagner has more than 15 years of experience in drug discovery, drug development, and medical technology, and has led teams to identify, research, and develop novel immune-modulating therapies. At Immunitas, Ms. Wagner has led the structuring and negotiation of multiple strategic collaborations and driven the progression of the lead program and pipeline. Prior to joining Immunitas, she was Vice President of Corporate Development at Q32 Bio, where she contributed to the company's $46 million Series A. Previously, Ms. Wagner was at Concert Pharmaceuticals, where she managed a $250 million asset sale, directly contributed to the Initial Public Offering, and identified and led the development of a preclinical therapeutic for autoimmune disease, now in Phase 3. Prior to Concert, Ms. Wagner was an early member of the team at UpToDate, Inc. Ms. Wagner also sits on the Board of Directors of the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.

About Immunitas Therapeutics
Immunitas is a single cell genomics-based therapeutics company focused on immunology that is advancing multiple programs to the clinic. Immunitas' programs are derived from their platform, a cross-functional, highly integrated, single cell genomics approach that enables rapid target identification and validation in parallel with antibody discovery and engineering. IMT-009, a first-in-class NK and T cell modulator targeting CD161, is being developed for the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Immunitas is also advancing IMT-073, a dual-target NK and T cell modulator. The company was founded by Longwood Fund with leading scientists from Dana-Farber, MGH, the Broad, and MIT. Since being founded in 2019, Immunitas has raised a total of $97 million in venture funding from a strong syndicate of investors including Longwood Fund, Alexandria, Evotec, Leaps by Bayer, M Ventures, and Novartis Venture Fund (NVF). To learn more, visit www.immunitastx.com 

About Agent Capital
Agent Capital is an international life sciences investment firm that supports disruptive healthcare companies focusing on novel, differentiated therapeutics and treatments that address unmet patient needs. Agent Capital aligns with scientists, entrepreneurs, and other investors to develop the next generation of healthcare innovations, leverages their industry expertise and successful track record to source premier deals, accelerate value, and drive successful exits. Their first fund invested in 15 portfolio companies, majority of them have executed collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies and successfully raised additional capital in the private or public markets. Agent Capital has offices in Boston, Massachusetts.

SOURCE Immunitas Therapeutics, Inc.