On December 19, 2024, Boston-based biotech company TigaTx announced it had received up to $33.5 million in funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and an additional $2 million, two-year, direct-to-phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati advised TigaTx on the transaction.

TigaTx stated that the investments would help accelerate the development of its platform, which utilizes engineered IgA monoclonal antibodies to engage neutrophils, the most abundant circulating immune cells. "Engineered IgA neutrophil engagers have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of cancer by harnessing neutrophils' innate killing power," commented Howard Stern, M.D., Ph.D., chief scientific officer of TigaTx.

The company's lead asset, TIGA-001, targets EGFR via the novel neutrophil-engaging mechanism, offering the potential to treat hard-to-treat cancers, including colon, lung, and head and neck cancers.

The ARPA-H award will also support TigaTx’s efforts to combat drug-resistant pathogens by developing dimeric secretory IgA as a novel therapeutic class for infectious diseases. Additionally, it will enable the company to collaborate with leading institutions and experts to investigate the biology of engineered IgAs further and generate proof-of-concept preclinical data.

The Wilson Sonsini team advising TigaTx on the transaction included:

Technology Transactions
Mark Bellomy
Christina Fuleihan

Corporate
Mark Solakian

For more information, please refer to TigaTx’s news release.