After Eli Lilly snapped up Scorpion Therapeutics' PI3Kα program earlier this year, the biotech is selling off its other two clinical assets and spinning out a new company to advance its three preclinical precision medicine candidates.
The spinout, dubbed Antares Therapeutics, will be fueled by a $177 million series A round co-led by Omega Funds, Atlas Venture, Lightspeed Venture Partners, BVF Partners and Cormorant Asset Management, with other investors such as Abingworth and Vida Ventures participating as well.
Antares will be guided by the Scorpion leadership team, with former Scorpion CEO Adam Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., at the helm, according to a June 10 news release.
Scorpion—and now Antares—used medicinal chemistry to build out a pipeline of first-in-class hopefuls that take aim at undruggable targets in cancer and other diseases with unmet need. The Boston biotech’s portfolio includes programs initiated through Scorpion’s transcription factor deal inked with AstraZeneca in 2022.
Antares’ most advanced asset is expected to enter the clinic next year, according to the company.
The new biotech also shared that Pierre Fabre Laboratories has secured global rights to Scorpion’s other clinical programs: two next-gen mutant EGFR inhibitors designed to treat non-small cell lung cancer. The French pharma is taking the lead on clinical development and potential commercialization for both programs, with Antares eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties.
The deal builds off a previous partnership in which Pierre Fabre offered up to $553 million in biobucks to work with Scorpion on the lung cancer candidates.
At the start of this year, Scorpion had sold its mutant-selective PI3Kα inhibitor STX-478 to Lilly for up to $2.5 billion in biobucks. The deal followed a phase 1 data drop that showed STX-478 may have an edge over Novartis’ Piqray and Roche’s Itovebi.
“We took our name from Antares, the brightest star in the Scorpius constellation, and known as ‘the heart of the Scorpion,’” CEO Friedman said in the release.
“We are building from a strong foundation with a team of experts who are experienced in making new medicines, as well as proprietary drug discovery capabilities and a robust preclinical pipeline fueled by discoveries in drugging previously inaccessible targets.”