Argos Therapeutics Raises $16M

Durham-based CED Member Argos Therapeutics was unable to pull off an IPO in April, but the company still has the attention of investors.

Argos disclosed in an SEC filing on Tuesday that it had raised nearly $16 million in a new round of financing.
The new funding came just before Argos announced it had received two U.S. patents, allowance for another and one patent in Europe for its "fully personalized immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and infectious disease."


The mixture of equity and debt was sold on Aug. 31, and the offering represented the total Argos had made available.

Some 24 investors participated in the deal, according to the filing. 

Argos also raised $25 million shortly after withdrawing its IPO plans.

The company has an experimental lupus treatment that has shown promise in early stage clinical trials.
Argos recently released positive phase 1 clinical trial results for AGS-009 at the 2012 European League Against Rheumatism Congress. Argos has been clear about its desire to work with a partner to develop AGS-009.

The firm needs the financial support of a larger partner for the lupus candidate because most of its resources are directed to its lead therapeutic candidate, an experimental kidney cancer treatment.

The $25 million in a series D round in April was intended for studying AGS-003 in phase 3 clinical trials.
In July, Argos said the FDA had approved a phase 3 clinical trial for the drug.

Argos had planned to support its drug development efforts pipeline with an initial public stock offering that was filed last year that could have raised $65 million. But the company withdrew those plans in March, citing market conditions.

Published originally by WRAL Tech Wire, a CED publishing partner.