BrainChild Bio raises $116M Series A to advance pediatric brain tumor CAR-T
What's the deal? BrainChild BioDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Seattle cell therapy developer, has raised $116 million in a Series A round to fund CAR-T treatments for children with rare brain cancers. An unnamed private family fund and foundation led the financing, with Seattle ChildrenDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s and the venture arm of the Washington Research FoundationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → participating.
What's the endgame? Spun out of Seattle Children's Hospital three years ago, the company is developing a pair of cell therapies designed specifically for children. Its lead candidate, BCB-276, is in Phase 2 testing for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a rare and deadly brain stem tumor. A second, BCB-214, targets glioblastoma and is set to enter human testing next year.
CAR-T therapies are engineered from immune cells; a handful are approved for blood cancers, but few companies have tested them against brain tumors. "The prejudice is that the brain would be intolerant to having cells directly administered," said founder and chief scientific officer Michael Jensen.
Why it matters: DIPG affects an estimated 300 children in the US each year, according to the National Cancer Institute, and most die within two years of diagnosis. BCB-276 targets B7-H3, a protein overexpressed on DIPG and other tumors, and unlike most CAR-T therapies requires no chemotherapy conditioning beforehand. That allows multiple doses and helps keep the re-engineered cells in the brain, lowering the risk of systemic side effects.
What could go wrong? Financing pediatric programs is difficult, as sales in uncommon childhood cancers are small next to adult markets. "While I understand the business we're in, it is still so very disappointing to me and [Jensen], and especially for these patients and their families," said chief executive officer Steven Brugger. The Phase 2 study has a primary completion date in 2028.
The signal: The round ranks in the 98.6th percentile of all Series A rounds in US health, out of a sample of 5,904 — a rare scale for a pediatric-focused biotech. It shows investor appetite for taking CAR-T beyond blood cancers, even into markets most companies avoid.
Read more: endpoints.news, biopharmadive.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
