Toronto and Philadelphia-based preclinical biotechnology startup Radiant Biotherapeutics has secured $35 million USD in Series A funding to fuel the advance of its therapeutic candidates.
Based on foundational science from Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the University of Toronto (U of T), Radiant is developing an antibody platform, Multabody, designed to deliver new therapies for patients with life-changing diseases.
Radiant’s all-equity Series A round, which closed last week, was co-led by two existing backers, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Montréal’s Amplitude Ventures, the latter of which recently closed its second precision medicine fund in May at $263 million CAD.
Radiant is developing a platform designed to deliver new therapies for patients with life-changing diseases.
New investors BDC Capital, through its Thrive Venture Fund, and Scotland’s Abrdn PLC also participated, with follow-on support from FACIT, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (TIAP). The round brings Radiant’s total funding to $43 million, and values the startup at $65 million.
To start, Radiant president and CEO Art Fratamico told BetaKit the startup has set its initial sights on cancer, inflammation, and immunology, as well as infectious diseases like HIV through its existing collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, from which Radiant received a $2-million grant in late 2023. But Fratamico also sees broader applications for the company’s Multabody platform in other areas.
Radiant’s origins date back to work from the laboratories of Jean-Philippe Julien, senior scientist at SickKids and associate professor at U of T, and U of T professor Bebhinn Treanor. Founded in 2020, Radiant has built a proprietary, multi-valent, multi-specific antibody platform called Multabody. Per Radiant, the therapies created through its platform have demonstrated the potential to deliver multi-functional biologics to tackle difficult-to-treat diseases.
“Simply put, Radiant’s Multabodies can do things that traditional antibody treatments can’t do,” Fratamico claimed. “Because they are multi-valent, Multabodies grip targets more strongly. This enables Radiant to address areas of biology where antibodies—even bi-specific and tri-specific—fail, by not having enough grip.”
Fratamico added that Radiant’s platform builds these biologics on a modular scaffold, which he claimed enables quick development and early proof of profile for new therapies. As for competition, Fratamico claimed he is not aware of any other firms developing multivalent and multi-specific antibodies. Its lead clinical candidate is 4-1BB.
Radiant was created by Amplitude, which led the company’s $8-million seed round alongside launch partner SickKids, with participation from Alexandria, FACIT, and TIAP. Radiant emerged from stealth last year, announcing this funding and two partnerships with undisclosed global pharmaceutical players, and bringing on Fratamico as its leader. Today, Radiant’s 14-person team is spread across its labs in Toronto and executive offices in Philadelphia.
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“The company is using the proceeds to drive 4-1BB towards the clinic as well as advancing other programs in the pipeline which includes its collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,” Fratamico said. “As the programs advance, the company plans to hire additional scientists and also add to the management team.”
In a statement, Amplitude principal Bharat Srinivasa noted, “This financing will enable the next stage in Radiant’s growth and move the company towards the clinic as it continues to demonstrate the superiority of the Multabody platform against therapeutic targets that cannot be treated with traditional antibodies.”
Venture capital (VC) funding for biotech startups has been recovering in 2024 following a turbulent few years, but many investment firms have also become more selective about which biotech companies they are backing, which has created haves and have-nots.
Per RBCx, only seven percent of the VC raised in Canada in the last decade has gone towards life sciences funds, despite the country punching above its weight: life sciences accounts for some of Canada’s biggest VC exits during this time, like the billion-dollar-plus sales of Chinook Therapeutics, Inversago Pharma, and Fusion Pharmaceuticals. Recently, some have questioned domestic pension funds’ lack of support.
Feature image courtesy Radiant Biotherapeutics.