The funding rounds are part of a broader effort to advance next-generation T-cell engager platforms targeting cancers.
Excalipoint Therapeutics and Crossbow Therapeutics, companies focused on next-generation T-cell engager therapies , announced the closing of respective funding rounds this week.
Emerging Pharma Leaders nominations are now open!
Do you know someone who can make tough decisions that continue to face manufacturers? Are they destined to change the future of pharma?
Nominate a colleague with impressive leadership and career intentions – even yourself! – for the Pharmaceutical Executive 2026 Emerging Pharma Leaders Awards.
The funding rounds reflect the continued investor appetite for novel immunotherapy platforms targeting cancers that remain difficult to treat.
Excalipoint Therapeutics closed an oversubscribed $68.7 million seed financing, one of the largest early-stage rounds for a Chinese biotechnology company, to advance its pipeline of six T-cell engager programs targeting solid tumors and difficult-to-treat cancers.1
The raise came in two tranches, with the first being an initial $41 million seed round completed at the company's inception in August 2025 was co-led by HSG, Apricot Capital, and Yuanbio Venture Capital.1
Six months later, after reaching clinical milestones, the company secured a $27.7 million extension co-led by MPCi and Centurium Capital, with participation from Lilly Asia Ventures and Eisai Innovation Inc.1
Excalipoint is built around three proprietary platforms, TOPAbody, T-Cell Immune Shield, and TCE Probody, designed to overcome biological barriers that have historically limited T-cell engager therapies, including converting immunologically "cold" tumors into "hot" ones and targeting difficult-to-drug tumor antigens.1
Its lead asset, EXP011, is a tri-specific antibody targeting DLL3, CD3, and 4-1BB for small cell lung cancer and neuroendocrine tumors, with the first patient dosed in a Phase I/II trial in October 2025. Five additional programs are in development across oncology and immunology indications.1
Lei Fang, co-founder, chairman, and CEO, said the company's rapid progress reflects both the strength of its science and China's maturing biotech ecosystem. "By combining science and capital with China's clinical development efficiency and access to large patient populations, we can rapidly generate clinical data while advancing a pipeline of differentiated therapies," he said.
Crossbow Therapeutics raised $77 million in a Series B financing to complete a Phase I clinical trial of its lead program CBX-250 and accelerate development of its broader T-Bolt immunotherapy pipeline.2
The round was co-led by Taiho Ventures and Arkin Bio Capital, with participation from new investors including Sixty Degree Capital, Hamilton Square Partners, and Blood Cancer United's Therapy Acceleration Program, alongside existing backers including Pfizer Ventures, Eli Lilly and Company, and Polaris Partners.2
Crossbow's T-Bolt molecules use antibodies that mimic T-cell receptors known as TCR-mimetics to target peptide human leukocyte antigen complexes on cancer cells.2 The approach is designed to reach intracellular cancer proteins that conventional antibody therapies cannot access, potentially broadening the universe of targetable tumor antigens.
CBX-250, the company's lead asset, is a first-in-class TCE targeting a peptide HLA specific to myeloid cancer cells. The ongoing Crosscheck-001 Phase I trial is evaluating CBX-250 in patients with relapsed or refractory myeloid malignancies including acute myeloid leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.2 Initial data is expected around the end of 2026.
The new capital is also expected to fund an IND submission and Phase I trial initiation for CBX-663, a TCE targeting a telomerase-derived antigen across hematologic and solid tumors, projected for the third quarter of 2026.2
Briggs Morrison, CEO of Crossbow, said the financing accelerates the company's mission to bring next-generation immunotherapies to patients whose cancers remain beyond the reach of current treatments. Preclinical data for both CBX-250 and CBX-663 will be presented at the AACR Annual Meeting in San Diego in April 2026.2
