Notch is a Canadian biotech incubated by Ontario-based Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM)

February 10, 2021 – FACIT congratulates Notch Therapeutics, a Canadian biotech incubated by Ontario-based Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM), on closing an oversubscribed $85M USD Series A financing. The financing was led by existing investors Allogene Therapeutics, Inc., Lumira Ventures, and CCRM Enterprises Holdings Ltd., an affiliate of CCRM; along with new investors EcoR1 Capital, an undisclosed leading global investment firm, Casdin Capital, Samsara BioCapital, and Amplitude Ventures. The capital will enable Notch to continue developing their portfolio of iPSC-derived T cell therapeutic product candidates and proprietary Engineered Thymic Niche (ETN) platform.

The financing is one of the largest Series A financing round in Canadian biotech history, notably at a time of heightened interest by Ontario in translating the health system benefits of homegrown intellectual property. FACIT supported the technology in its pre-commercial stage through a Prospects Oncology Fund grant to Dr. Peter Zandstra’s laboratory at the CCRM. CCRM subsequently founded Notch Therapeutics in conjunction with TIAP, the University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Research Institute.

As part of FACIT’s shared mandate with its strategic partner the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), the Prospects Fund addresses the seed funding gap for early-stage Ontario-based cancer innovations with commercial potential. FACIT and OICR look forward to seeing the accelerated commercialization of Notch’s new generation of cell therapies for patients with cancer.

Read the news release here.