Dren Bio has secured $350m in an oversubscribed private financing round to advance its primary investigational therapy, dibotatug (DR-01), via late-stage clinical evaluation, regulatory submission, and potential commercialisation.
The privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company will also use the capital to progress its broader research pipeline in autoimmune disorders, immunology, neurology, and oncology.
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Juvia Group and Lightspeed Venture Partners co-led the investment round.
Following the transaction, Juvia Group co-founder and managing director Sujal Shah and Lightspeed partner Shelley Chu have joined the Dren Bio Board of Directors.
Additional new participants included Cormorant Asset Management, General Catalyst, Mirae Asset Capital Life Science, and OrbiMed.
Existing investors 8VC, Aisling Capital, ArrowMark Partners, BVF Partners, HBM Healthcare Investments, Mission BioCapital, SR One, and Taiho Ventures also contributed capital.
Dibotatug is a fully human monoclonal antibody engineered to bind cluster of differentiation 94 (CD94). The therapy selectively removes disease-causing cytotoxic cells whilst sparing the wider immune system.
The company’s furthest advanced clinical programmes focus on cytotoxic T-cell lymphoma, an aggressive haematologic malignancy, and large granular lymphocytic leukaemia, a chronic condition associated with severe neutropenia, anaemia, and transfusion requirements.
Neither disease currently has approved therapeutic options.
More than 300 individuals have received treatment in an ongoing Phase I/II trial evaluating dibotatug for relapsed or refractory forms of both conditions.
Dren Bio plans to expand clinical testing of dibotatug into aplastic anaemia, other bone marrow failure syndromes, and autoimmune indications.
Dren Bio CEO and founder Nenad Tomasevic said: “We founded Dren Bio with a simple vision: pursue novel science to develop medicines that meaningfully improve the lives of patients with devastating diseases and few treatment options.
“Seeing dibotatug advance to this late stage of development, alongside a clinically validated platform that continues to generate promising new therapies, is deeply gratifying and reflects the vision that inspired us from day one.”
In July 2024, Dren Bio partnered with Novartis subsidiary Novartis Pharma to discover and develop therapeutic bispecific antibodies to treat cancer.
