Cell therapy company Talaris Therapeutics raises $100m in Series A round

Talaris Therapeutics (formerly Regenerex) has raised $100 million in a Series A financing round to advance its allogeneic cell therapy FCR001 into phase 3 development in various immune-related indications.

Blackstone Life Sciences led the financing round of the US biotech company with the other participants being Qiming Venture Partners USA and Longitude Capital.

Talaris Therapeutics is engaged in developing cell therapies that seek to free recipients of organ transplants from the burdens and toxicities associated with lifelong immunosuppression, without rejection of their transplanted organ.

Nicholas Galakatos – Head of Blackstone Life Sciences said: “Talaris’ cell therapy technology has great promise for post-transplant care, with the potential to replace lifelong immunosuppressants with a single, durable treatment.

“Talaris’ focus on disease-modifying therapies, its readiness to initiate a pivotal study executed by an experienced management team, and the product’s potential to improve the lives of many patients, all align well with the Blackstone Life Sciences investment strategy.”

Proceeds from the Series A funding round will be used for a phase 3 registration trial of FCR001 in recipients of living donor kidney transplants (LDKT), and also for additional phase 2 trials in other high-requirement indications.

Talaris Therapeutics stated that the data from a phase 2 trial show that 70% of LDKT patients who were subjected to FCR001 treatment were able to stop immunosuppressive therapy safely and durably.

The US biotech company also plans to use the proceeds from the financing round to expand its in-house cell processing capabilities needed to back the development programs and also for early commercial launch requirements.

Scott Requadt – Talaris Therapeutics CEO said: “Inducing durable, drug-free immune tolerance to a transplanted organ has been a long-standing aspiration in the transplant field. With this substantial financing, Talaris is well positioned to rapidly advance this important therapy into a registration study for LDKT and through additional proof-of-concept clinical trials.”