BRIEF—LAVA Therapeutics nabs $83 million in Series C financing

Novo Ventures, the ventures arm of Novo Holdings, today announced that it has co-led the oversubscribed $83 million Series C financing in LAVA Therapeutics, a Dutch and US biotech company pioneering the development of bispecific antibodies to engage gamma-delta T cells for cancer therapies.

As a result of the financing, Nanna Lüneborg, a partner at Novo Ventures, will join the company’s board of directors.

The financing will accelerate the advancement of LAVA’s immuno-oncology pipeline and its powerful bispecific gamma-delta T cell engager programs into multiple proof-of-concept clinical trials expected to start in 2021 for the treatment of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

LAVA’s bispecific gamma-delta T cell engager platform harnesses the unique properties of these specific T cells creating a revolutionary truly tumor-targeted immunotherapy to improve outcomes for cancer patients.

Gamma-delta T cells are the natural surveillance cells of the immune system, continuously patrolling the human body for the identification and targeting of tumor cells. These cells bridge the innate with the adaptive immune system and are a largely untapped opportunity in cancer treatment.