Alpha-9 Oncology has raised $175m in a Series C funding round to advance its pipeline of radiopharmaceuticals. Credit: eamesBot via Shutterstock.

Alpha-9 Oncology is the latest radiopharma to raise funds, drawing in $175m in Series C financing, to advance its radiopharmaceutical candidates through clinical trials and expand its research and development (R&D) capabilities. 

Vancouver, Canada-based Alpha-9 shared that it will advance its pipeline of preclinical candidates to the “clinic-ready” stage. While the company has not disclosed which of its assets in particular will be advanced, the company has several preclinical programs targeting MC1R, PSMA, GRPR, CXCR4, and B1R, as per GlobalData’s Pharma Intelligence Center. 

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In May 2024, Alpha-9 announced the dosing of the first patient in its Phase I study for the MC1R programme, dubbed A9-3202. This peptide-based radiopharmaceutical targets the melanocortin 1 receptor for imaging locally advanced or metastatic melanoma. The trial is evaluating A9-3202’s tumour uptake and distribution in normal tissue among participants with melanoma. 

This latest financing comes after a flood of investment into the radiopharma arena over the last few years. Earlier this month, Aktis Oncology raised $175m to support the development of its new radiopharmaceuticals, including a first-in-class Nectin-4-targeted miniprotein radioconjugate. Big pharma has jumped on the radiopharma train too, with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), Novartis, and Eli Lilly signing acquisition deals worth $4.2bn, $1.75bn, and $1.4bn, respectively.  

Alpha-9’s Series C – co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Ascenta Capital – builds on a $75m Series B in December 2022, and a $8.9m Series A in 2021, three years after the company spun-out from the University of British Columbia. Other participating investors in this round included a16z Bio + Health, RA Capital Management, Janus Henderson Investors and Samsara BioCapital.  

Alpha-9 said its funding will also support ongoing investments in its discovery capabilities, as well as the expansion of manufacturing and isotope supply partnerships. The company recently completed the construction of a manufacturing facility in Vancouver, Canada.  

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Last month, Telix Pharmaceuticals paid $230m upfront to acquire US-based radioisotope manufacturer RLS Radiopharmacies to expand its manufacturing footprint in the US. 

Venture financing for innovative radiopharmaceutical drugs has witnessed an approximately 550% increase from $63m in 2017 to $408m in 2023 YTD (year-to-date) total deal value in the US, according to GlobalData’s Pharma Intelligence Center Deals Database. 

GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology. 

In the announcement accompanying the financing, Alpha-9’s CEO David Hirsch said: “Over the last few years, Alpha-9 has built a leading radiopharmaceutical company with a deep pipeline and robust infrastructure.”