Healthcare
See the 21-slide pitch deck a biotech startup used to convince investors like Pfizer to bet on fixing damaged organs
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- Belgium’s AgomAb Therapeutics is developing treatments to restore function to damaged organs.
- The company raised $114 million in a Series B round from Pfizer and other investors.
- AgomAb CEO Tim Knotnerus says the cash extends the company’s cash runway into 2024.
As markets tighten, healthcare startups are looking for ways to extend their cash runway.
AgomAb Therapeutics, a Belgian biotech company focused on repairing damaged organs, just raised an additional $40.5 million in an extended Series B round, increasing its total funding for this round to $114 million.
“It’s always good to raise the money when you can, not when you have to,” AgomAb Therapeutics CEO Tim Knotnerus told Insider.
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The additional funding was led by Pfizer through its Pfizer Breakthrough Growth Initiative. Walleye Capital and Asabys Partners also participated in the extension, as did existing investors. The latest funding is an extension of its $74 million Series B, which was announced in March 2021.
Knotnerus said the round would extend the company’s cash runway to 2024, removing the need to tap into public markets anytime soon. He added that the additional funding carved a path to bring on some good partners and validation for the company.
AgomAb is developing a portfolio of drugs directed at stopping fibrotic diseases — chronic thickening of scar tissue around damaged organs, which can eventually lead to organ failure. It plans to repair these damaged tissues through therapeutics to restored organ function.
AgomAb said Pfizer would lend its development expertise to the development of the company’s lead compound, AGMB-129, which is being developed to treat Crohn’s disease. Pfizer’s Thomas Wynn, who specializes in inflammation and immunology research, will join AgomAb’s scientific advisory board as part of the agreement.
Paul van der Horst, AgomAb’s chief business officer, said the money raised would allow the company to get “real clinical data” on its lead compounds. He added that AgomAb had several undisclosed compounds it was researching.
“This organization will look very differently one or two years from now. That’s clear,” Knotnerus said.
See the 21-slide presentation AgomAb Therapeutics used to raise $114 million from investors like Pfizer.
AgomAb Therapeutics is a Belgian healthcare startup focused on restoring function to damaged organs.
AgomAb
The company has several compounds in its pipeline, including one focused on Crohn’s disease. That one is nearing the end of its phase-one trial in healthy volunteers.
AgomAb
AgomAb is researching two types of therapeutics: small molecules and antibody treatments.
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A big portion of the company’s Series B round will be focused on furthering trials of its lead compound, AGMB-129, for Crohn’s disease, Knotnerus told Insider.
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AgomAb was founded in 2017. Knotnerus joined the company as its CEO in 2019 after working as the vice president of corporate development at AM-Pharma.
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Since its founding, AgomAb has raised about $140 million from investors. Last year, it acquired the Spanish biotech company Origo Biopharma.
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AgomAb’s compounds fall into two categories. One targets transforming growth factor beta (TGF-ß), a protein which plays an important role in anti-inflammation and healing wounds — but can lead to scar tissue.
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AgomAb said similar drugs developed by other companies could have severe side effects. Its molecules are designed so that they’re active in only one organ.
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The company’s lead compound, AGMB-129, is expected to enter phase Ib trials early next year.
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Fibrostenotic strictures, or narrowing within the intestines caused by scar tissue, are extremely common in Crohn’s-disease patients, but there are no treatment options that effectively prevent or reverse the condition.
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AgomAb’s treatment targets a receptor on the TGF-ß protein that prevents it from overcreating scar tissue, which can lead to strictures.
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Another compound AgomAb is developing, AGMB-447, focuses on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a condition that causes scarring in the lungs and makes breathing difficult.
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AGMB-447 is an inhalable medicine, and the company said it planned to start a phase-one trial for healthy volunteers in the first half of 2023.
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The company is also developing treatments that target hepatocyte growth factor, or HGF, a small protein that stimulates tissue growth and is believed to play a big role in organ regeneration.
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“This is not something you will want to inhibit,” Knotnerus said about HGF, “but actually you want to stimulate or actually overexpose in the human body.”
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AgomAb has two compounds in its HGF platform, AGMB-101 and AGMB-102. Both are in early stages of research.
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AGMB-101 is an antibody that mimics the activity of HGF.
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Preclinical studies with the drug have indicated promising effects on illnesses such as diabetes, liver disease, and acute kidney injury.
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Another HGF-mimicking compound, AGMB-102, is in the discovery stage. AgomAb said this compound was intended for use in chronic illnesses.
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Knotnerus said the company hoped to have positive patient data for its most advanced compounds by 2024.
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Knotnerus said the majority of the funds from the company’s Series B would be invested into research and development, while a portion would be used to expand the company’s head count.
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