Abdera raises $142M to engineer oncology radiopharmaceuticals

Abdera Therapeutics, a Canada-based biotech developing oncology therapies, announced this week that it has raised $142 million in combined Series A and B financing to develop radiopharmaceuticals for cancers.

The biotech’s proprietary Radio Optimized Vector Engineering (ROVEr™) platform allows for the design of antibody-based radiopharmaceuticals with antigen-binding domains that optimize the antibodies' pharmacokinetics for delivering therapeutic isotopes effectively. 

Its lead program — which has an expected investigational new drug (IND) application submission in 2024 — targets the delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3) protein for the treatment of small cell lung cancer and other sold tumors. 

Abdera’s president and CEO, Lori Lyons-Williams has over 20 years of industry experience both in multinational pharma companies and emerging biotech companies. She served as the chief commercial officer of Dremira, a biopharma company focused on immunology and medical dermatology which was later acquired by Eli Lilly for $1.1 billion. 

Abdera's series A funding round was spearheaded by Versant Ventures and Amplitude Ventures, along with contributions from Northview Ventures and Abdera's founding partners, AbCellera and adMare BioInnovations. The Series B funding round was led by venBio Partners with support from new investors like Viking Global Investors, and Qiming Venture Partners USA.