Bracco Imaging radiopharmaceutical firm Blue Earth Therapeutics raises nearly $77M
Blue Earth Therapeutics has raised nearly $77 million in new financing, the Bracco-owned radiopharmaceutical firm announced Wednesday.
Investment groups Soleus and Sands Capital led the Series A financing round with additional contributions from existing investors. Acquired by Bracco Imaging for $450 million in 2019, Oxford, U.K.-based Blue Earth is developing a portfolio of radiotherapeutics with an initial focus on prostate cancer.
Leaders said the funding will help Blue Earth to further advance its development of PSMA (prostate‐specific membrane antigen)-targeted therapies. Earlier this month, the company announced “encouraging” safety data from Phase 1 of its clinical trial for Lutetium-177 (177Lu) in men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer.
“We have observed the rapid acceptance of Pluvicto as the first PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer, and at the same time see opportunities to do better,” David Canner, partner at Greenwich, Connecticut-based Soleus Capital, said in an Oct. 30 announcement. “The early data the company has developed supports differentiation and gives us confidence to invest in the Blue Earth team. We look forward to advancing Blue Earth Therapeutics' compounds to later stage trials.”
Woodline Partners and PBM Capital joined the funding round as new institutional investors, with Bracco Imaging also contributing. Blue Earth noted that the capital infusion comes from a “broad spectrum of experienced biotech investors.” Representatives from both Soleus and Sands Capital will join the Blue Earth Therapeutics board of directors.
“The establishment of PSMA-targeted radiopharmaceuticals as a class of therapy in prostate cancer represents a huge opportunity to improve outcomes for prostate cancer patients. Our new investors share our strong belief that Blue Earth Therapeutics' radiohybrid agents could be a significant improvement over currently approved treatment options," Fulvio Renoldi Bracco, CEO of Bracco Imaging, said in the announcement.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.