Alchemab Therapeutics extends Series A with £25m investment

Alchemab Therapeutics has extended its Series A financing with £25m from the British Business Bank, marking the Bank’s largest investment in a life sciences company to date. 

Founded in 2019, Alchemab is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that discovers and develops novel antibody therapeutics by identifying naturally occurring protective antibodies in individuals who show resilience to disease.

Its approach integrates deep sequencing, advanced AI and lab-based validation to uncover new biological insights and generate first- and best-in-class drug candidates.

This investment builds on the success of the company’s first asset, ATLX-1282 – a first-in-class antibody therapeutic in clinical development for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which was licensed to pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly.

The new funding, which brings Alchemab’s Series A total to £109m, will enable the company to build its clinical pipeline and grow its proprietary unique antibody dataset to more than a billion sequences. The firm will also advance additional clinical candidates into development.

Previous investors include SV Health Investors, RA Capital, DCVC Bio, Eli Lilly, Lightstone Ventures, Ono Venture Investment and Camford Partners.

“We are delighted that [the] British Business Bank has recognised the importance of enabling Alchemab to grow and thrive here in the UK,” says Dr Jane Osbourn, CEO and co-founder of Alchemab. 

“This investment provides further validation of the sustainable, long-term potential of our drug discovery platform and will enable us to further accelerate our pipeline of first-in-class antibody therapeutics for conditions with significant unmet need.”

The British Business Bank is the most active late-stage investor in UK life sciences, and has invested £238m in 22 companies operating in the sector.