The Clinical-Stage Biopharmaceutical Company Velosbio Closes Its Oversubscribed Series B Round of Financing

VelosBio successfully closes its oversubscribed Series B financing of $137 million, led by Matrix Capital Management.

Fremont, CA: VelosBio, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to developing novel, first-in-class cancer therapy targeting receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1), announced the closure of its oversubscribed Series B financing round worth $137 million led by Matrix Capital Management and Surveyor Capital. The Company in total has raised $202 million in gross proceeds from private financing sources since its launch in 2017.

The participants of the Series B financing round include new investors Adage Capital Management LP, Cormorant Asset Management, Farallon, Foresite Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Logos Capital, OrbiMed, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, Viking Global Investors, and Wellington Management Company, which are also joining the existing investors Arix Bioscience, Decheng Capital, Pappas Capital, Sofinnova Ventures, and Takeda Ventures.

The proceeds collected from the Series B financing round will be utilized for advanced research in the clinical development of the VelosBios’ leading antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), VLS-101, and provide assistance in the continued extension of its pipeline of ROR1-directed next-generation ADCs and bispecific antibodies. ROR1 antibody is a cell surface antigen existing in a range of hematologic and solid tumor malignancies. VLS-101 is a ROR1-directed ADC that is being studied at present, in a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with relapsed or refractory hematologic cancers. Studies in patients with solid tumors are scheduled to begin later this year.

“We are delighted to welcome a top-tier group of leading healthcare investors to advance development of our pipeline of first-in-class ROR1-directed therapeutics. We have made tremendous progress since founding the Company in 2017, and this financing reflects strong support for our platform, people, and comprehensive development strategy,” said Dave Johnson, Chief Executive Officer, VelosBio. “This investment positions us to further the development of our unique pipeline of targeted therapies, and continue the expansion of our world-class team of scientists and researchers who share a passion for developing paradigm-shifting cancer therapeutics to improve patients’ lives.”

“We were attracted to VelosBio by the excellent science, experienced management team, and broad potential therapeutic applicability of its proprietary ROR1-targeting technology,” said Karan Takhar, Managing Director, Matrix Capital Management. “The early clinical data with VLS-101 are very promising and support ROR1’s potential as a novel oncology target. We see tremendous opportunity for the VelosBio pipeline to produce novel targeted therapies for use as monotherapy or in combination across a broad range of cancers.”