NEW YORK – Epsilogen on Wednesday said it raised £30.75 million ($41.20 million) in an oversubscribed Series B funding round that it will use to advance its lead immunoglobulin E drug candidate, dubbed MOv18 IgE.
The funding round was led by Novartis Venture Fund and included 3B Future Health Fund, British Patient Capital, Schroders Capital, and Caribou Property. Existing investors Epidarex Capital and ALSA Ventures also participated in the funding round. Concurrent with the financing announcement, Epsilogen said that Marianne Uteng, principal at Novartis Venture Fund, and Marianne Bjordal, partner at 3B Future Health Fund, will join its board of directors.
London-based Epsilogen will use the funds to establish the clinical proof of concept for MOv18 IgE, which targets the folate receptor alpha antigen. The company will begin a Phase Ib trial of the drug in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients whose tumors will be tested for folate receptor alpha expression.
Previous data from a first-in-human Phase I study of MOv18 IgE in solid tumors expressing folate receptor alpha demonstrated safety and provided early efficacy signals.
The funding will also go toward developing Epsilogen's proprietary IGEG antibody platform, which it uses to develop drug candidates. The IGEG platform allows the company to combine elements from both immunoglobulin E and immunoglobulin G antibodies into novel antibody molecules.
Epsilogen has two other preclinical candidates in development: one for the treatment of HER2-positive breast and gastric cancers, and another undisclosed candidate. The company was spun out from King's College London in 2017.