Ariceum Launches with $26.7 (€25) Million to Advance lead Candidate to Treat Rare Cancers

Rare Daily Staff

Ariceum Therapeutics, a German biotech developing a radiopharmaceutical product for the diagnosis and systemic targeted radiation therapy of certain hard-to-treat cancers, said it raised $26.7 (€25) Million in an oversubscribed Series A financing round to advance lead radiopharmaceutical product, satoreotide, for the treatment of neuroendocrine cancers and certain other aggressive, hard-to-treat cancers.

EQT Life Sciences (formerly LSP) and HealthCap, co-founders of the company, co-led the financing, and were joined by Pureos Bioventures. Ipsen transferred assets and all corresponding rights to satoreotide into the company in late 2021.

Satoreotide is a radiopharmaceutical drug and an antagonist of the somatostatin type 2 (SST2) receptor which is overexpressed in many cancers, including certain hard-to-treat cancers such as small cell lung cancer (SCLC), high-grade neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) and neuroblastoma, an aggressive, rare type of cancer that occurs mainly in young children. Satoreotide will be used as a ‘theranostic’ for both the diagnosis and treatment of tumors expressing the SST2 receptor. Satoreotide is in early clinical development and has already been administered to more than 100 patients including more than 150 therapeutic administrations.

Ariceum is led by a highly experienced management team with a strong track record and expertise in clinical trials, systemic targeted radiation therapy and radiopharmaceutical development, as well as launching and commercializing diagnostic and therapeutic products in a variety of indications worldwide.

In conjunction with the financing, Karin Kleinhans of EQT Life Sciences, Per Samuelsson of HealthCap, and Martin Münchbach of Pureos Bioventures will join Ariceum’s board of directors together with Eduardo Bravo, CEO of EBAC, who has been elected as chairman of the board.

“We are very pleased to attract this outstanding syndicate of venture capital and corporate investors which validates our approach to developing our lead radiopharmaceutical product, satoreotide,” said Manfred Rüdiger, CEO of Ariceum Therapeutics. “I am excited to lead an exceptional team as we continue to build our platform and advance satoreotide for systemic targeted radiation therapy (STRT) to visualize and treat neuroendocrine tumors and certain other more aggressive cancers.”

Photo: Manfred Rüdiger, CEO of Ariceum Therapeutics