ABL Bio Inc. (Seongnam, South Korea) raised $65 million in a series C round led by new investors DS Asset Management, Alpen Route Asset Management, Quad Asset Management and Hana Financial Investment.
ABL has now raised over $93 million since its founding in 2016. The Korean company plans to go public this year or next.
The company is mainly focused on developing bispecific antibody cancer programs. Its lead candidate, ABL001, is in a Korean Phase Ia/Ib trial to treat gastric cancer. The bispecific antibody targets delta like canonical Notch ligand 4 (DLL4) and VEGF. ABL VP and CFO Jerry Lee told BioCentury the company expects to complete the trial by 2Q19. According to Lee, ABL001 is the first bispecific antibody to be evaluated in a Korean clinical trial.
ABL is also developing preclinical candidate ABL301 to treat Parkinson's disease. It is a blood brain barrier (BBB) bispecific antibody that binds preferentially to alpha synuclein (SNCA) aggregates. The company plans to file an IND for the candidate in 2020.
Other new investors also participated in the round.