Portfolio News

Westlake-backed Kate Therapeutics Inc., a next-generation gene therapy company, today emerged from stealth mode with a $51 million Series A financing co-led by founding investor Westlake Village BioPartners and Versant Ventures, with participation from Osage University Partners and UF Innovate | Ventures. In addition, the company has granted Astellas Pharma Inc. an exclusive, worldwide license to develop, manufacture and commercialize KT430 to treat X-linked myotubular myopathy (XLMTM), the details of which are described in a separate press release issued today.

Kite, a Gilead Company (Nasdaq: GILD), and Westlake-backed Tmunity Therapeutics (Tmunity), today announced that the companies have signed an agreement in which Kite will acquire Tmunity, a clinical-stage, private biotech company focused on next-generation CAR T-therapies and technologies. The acquisition of Tmunity complements Kite’s existing in-house cell therapy research capabilities by adding additional pipeline assets, platform capabilities, and a strategic research and licensing agreement with the University of Pennsylvania (Penn)

Dantari, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing best-in-class targeted therapeutics for the treatment of cancers and other diseases, announced its emergence from stealth mode with $47 million Series A financing. The Series A financing was led by Westlake Village BioPartners and included participation from Corner Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Caltech. The Company also announced the appointment of Richard A. Markus, M.D., Ph.D., as president and CEO, and its board of directors, chaired by Sean Harper, M.D., a co-founding managing director at Westlake.

Arsenal Biosciences, Inc., a privately held programmable cell therapy company engineering advanced CAR T therapies for solid tumors, announced a

Neuron23 Inc., an early stage biotechnology company focused on developing precision medicines for genetically defined neurological and immunological diseases, and QIAGEN have announced a collaboration to develop a companion diagnostic for Neuron23’s LRRK2 inhibitor for Parkinson’s disease.

ACELYRIN, INC., a Westlake-funded late-stage clinical biopharma company, will use the financing to accelerate Phase 3 development of izokibep, a unique IL-17A inhibitor to treat inflammatory diseases including psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis.

Arsenal Biosciences, Inc., a privately held programmable cell therapy company engineering advanced CAR T therapies for solid tumors, announced the close of a $220 million Series B financing round. Proceeds from the financing will help the company expand its programmable cell therapy research activities and grow its pipeline of therapeutic candidates for solid tumor malignancies across a range of cancer indications.

3T Biosciences, an immunotherapy company changing the future of treatment for solid tumors and other immune-mediated diseases, announced its launch from stealth backed by $40 million Series A financing led by Westlake Village BioPartners with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners. As part of its launch, 3T announced it has exclusively in-licensed from Stanford University a precise antibody-based peptide-HLA therapeutic discovery platform and development-stage MAGE-A3 T-cell receptor (TCR)-T assets to rapidly expand 3T’s therapeutic portfolio.

Neuron23™ Inc., an early stage biotechnology company focused on developing precision medicines for genetically defined neurological and immunological diseases, today announced it has closed a $100 million Series C financing round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, bringing the company’s total financing raised to date to $213.5 million. Neuron23’s Series A and B investors – Westlake Village BioPartners, Kleiner Perkins, Redmile Group, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Acorn Bioventures, HBM Partners, Perceptive Advisors, and Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company) – also participated in the Series C financing round.

Kyverna Therapeutics, a cell therapy company engineering a new class of therapies for serious autoimmune diseases, today announced it has closed an oversubscribed $85 million Series B financing round led by Northpond Ventures. Additional investors included the company’s founding investors Westlake Village BioPartners, Vida Ventures, and Gilead Sciences, with new investors RTW Investments, LP, CAM Capital, Insight Partners, HealthCor, LYFE Capital, Intellia Therapeutics, Argentum Peak, Hudson Bay Capital, and jVen Capital.