Ehime, Japan, January 14, 2025 – Optieum Biotechnologies Inc. (“Optieum”), a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing innovative CAR-T cell therapies, today announced the successful completion of its ¥1.33 billion Series A financing round. The financing was led by Saisei Ventures (“Saisei”), with participation from new investors Keio Innovation Initiatives (“KII”), ZEON Corporation and Kobe University Capital. Existing investors ANRI, UntroD Capital Japan and Iyogin Capital also participated in the round.
Proceeds from the Series A financing will advance OPTF01, Optieum’s lead CAR-T candidate targeting Fibroblast Activation Protein Alpha (FAPα) to an Investigational New Drug (IND) filing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM).
“FAPα is a cell surface protein expressed by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), which are a critical component of the micro environment that supports the growth of many solid tumors, in part by shielding cancer cells from immune surveillance” said Shun Nishioka, CEO of Optieum. “Hence, directly targeting CAFs provides a potential opportunity for us to expand the therapeutic use of OPTF01 to other solid tumor targets beyond GBM.
The funds will also support onward development of the company’s proprietary Eumbody System, a discovery platform that leverages empirical methodologies to identify optimized CAR binding constructs for immune therapies and expand the company’s therapeutic pipeline.
Concurrent with this financing, Optieum has appointed three new board members; Jonathan Yeh, managing partner at Saisei, Yuto Torii, principal at KII, and Yusuke Miyazaki, principal at ANRI.
“Recent promising studies have breathed renewed enthusiasm into the CAR-T modality and the pursuit for optimized and clinically validated CAR binders will only increase as the next wave of increasingly complex allogeneic approaches come to fruition,” said Jonathan Yeh, managing partner at Saisei Ventures. “At Saisei, our mission is to empower companies with strong Japanese foundations and unlock their potential through the integration with global expertise. We are excited to collaborate with Optieum, whose rigorous scientific approach and advanced platform for identifying novel CAR binders hold great promise for improving safety and efficacy in the field. Through this partnership, we further demonstrate our commitment to fostering the growth of Japan’s biotech ecosystem by nurturing domestic talent and complementing it with global perspectives.”
Optieum Biotechnologies Inc. is a cutting-edge biotechnology company dedicated to engineering hope for patients through the development of next-generation CAR-T cell therapies. At the heart of Optieum’s innovation is its proprietary Eumbody System, a revolutionary platform that optimizes CAR constructs to unlock the full therapeutic potential of T cells by dynamically harmonizing CAR binding domains. This transformative platform has the potential to redefine CAR-T cell therapy, enabling the development of groundbreaking treatments for challenging diseases. For more information, visit www.optieumbio.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Saisei Ventures is a life science venture capital firm dedicated to building next-generation companies in the healthcare sector. We create ventures that start from bold ideas and empower dynamic entrepreneurs by providing technical, operational, and financial guidance. Our approach combines Western expertise and Japanese innovations to build globally competitive companies that will have the greatest impact on patient lives. With operations in Japan and the United States, Saisei aims to enhance the value of its portfolio by leveraging its unique networks and the institutional advantages of both countries. For more information, visit https://www.saiseiventures.com/.
Optieum Biotechnologies
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