Orca Bio Raises $192 Million Series D to Transform Allogeneic Cell Therapy

Palo Alto – June 23, 2020 – Cooley advised clinical-stage biotechnology company Orca Bio on its $192 million Series D financing round, which was co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and an undisclosed investor. The round brings Orca’s total capital raised to nearly $300 million and values the company at more than $1 billion. Cooley partners Josh Seidenfeld and Mark Weeks led the team advising Orca. 

Other new and existing blue-chip investors also participated in the round, including 8VC, DCVC Bio, ND Capital, Mubadala Investment Company, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Kaiser Permanente Group Trust and IMRF. The financing will support the continued advancement of Orca Bio’s cell therapy pipeline and its novel manufacturing platform, which sorts blood with single-cell precision and a high level of purity and speed to create optimal therapeutic mixtures of immune and stem cells. These proprietary mixtures have the potential to revolutionize allogeneic cell therapy for hematological and other cancers, as well as many other diseases and disorders – with an aim to cure and eliminate dangerous side effects. 

“The capital we have raised has formed the launch pad for a world-class, fully integrated allogeneic cell therapy company differentiated from all others,” Ivan Dimov, co-founder and CEO of Orca Bio, said in a statement. “Replacing bone marrow transplants is a logical first step in next-generation allogeneic cell therapy. While a conventional bone marrow transplant administers an uncontrolled cell product, Orca Bio has been the first to deliver a high precision cell therapy.”

Orca Bio’s two ongoing clinical studies are among the largest Phase I cell therapy trials ever conducted. Each product candidate has the potential to deliver curative outcomes for the initial indications Orca Bio is pursuing, as well as the promise to significantly expand the eligible patient population by substantially reducing the toxicities associated with conventional bone marrow transplants and widening the options for patients who haven’t been able to find matching bone marrow donors. 

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