The rise of radiopharmaceuticals sees big pharma back Aktis’ $175m Series B

Of late, investment in the radiopharmaceutical sector has been increasing. In December 2023, Bristol Myers Squibb acquired clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical therapeutics (RPT) firm RayzeBio for $4.1 billion.

In the same month, Novartis invested $85 million to build a radioligand facility in Zhejiang province, China, and five months later the firm bought Mariana Oncology for $1 billion. Eli Lilly announced its plans to acquire POINT Biopharma in October 2023 to expand its oncology capabilities into radioligand therapies and in May the firm partnered with Aktis to find and develop anticancer radiopharmaceuticals.

Last month, Lilly returned as a strategic investor for Aktis’ closed $175 million Series B financing, along with Bristol Myers Squibb, MRL Venture Fund, and the therapeutics-focused corporate venture fund of Merck & Co. (known as MSD outside North America).

“The financing supports general corporate purposes, which includes a broad development program for AKY-1189 in Nectin-4-expressing tumors; several other programs in earlier stage development; and further investments in our end-to-end supply chain and manufacturing capabilities,” Matthew Rodin, president and CEO of Atkis, told BioXconomy.

The progress of AKY-1189 is said to have “attracted significant investor interest and see off a highly engaged Series B process that ultimately was significantly oversubscribed.” Rodin explained how demand remained high from “new investors […] and among existing investors as well.”

New investors included an undisclosed Life Sciences focused investment fund and Avidity Partners.

The firm said it now has more than $300 million in cash which will fund its operations for a minimum of two years. To successfully develop its pipeline, Rodin said the firm will take a “platform approach” and use “Mini protein radioconjugates in order to maximize efficacy through deep tumor penetration, followed by internalization in the tumor cell for long retention time, while minimizing side effects by having the molecules clear out of the healthy tissues as quickly as possible.”

To increase the company’s chances of success in patients, the firm said it will conjugate “imaging isotopes to our molecules to select the patients most likely to benefit from therapy.”

This financing round was led by RA Capital Management and co-led by Janus Henderson Investors and RTW Investments.