Magenta Therapeutics raises $50 million; in-licenses clinical program

US biotech start-up Magenta Therapeutics says it has made rapid progress in advancing the company’s strategic vision, including the completion of a $50 million Series B financing.

It also revealed it has in-licensing a clinical-stage program from Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) to support the use of stem cell transplantation in a variety of disease settings; and a strategic partnership with Be The Match BioTherapies, an organization offering solutions for delivering autologous and allogeneic cellular therapies.

The clinical-stage program in-licensed from Novartis, MGTA-456 (formerly HSC835), aims to expand the number of cord blood stem cells used in transplants to achieve superior clinical outcomes compared to standard transplant procedures, and to enable more patients to benefit from a transplant. Under this agreement, Magenta gains rights to use MGTA-456 in selected applications and will develop MGTA-456 in multiple diseases, including immune and blood diseases. Financial terms of the accord were not disclosed.