Lexington, Massachusetts-based Agenus Inc. (Nasdaq: AGEN) announced an oversubscribed private placement of up to USD 340 million to fund the Phase III ROBBIN trial of botensilimab and balstilimab (BOT+BAL) in microsatellite-stable (MSS) colon cancer, while discontinuing financial support for a separate Phase III study of the regimen in metastatic disease.
The financing provides USD 85 million in upfront gross proceeds through the issuance of common stock or pre-funded warrants, priced at a combined effective price of USD 3.69 per share. Two accompanying warrant tranches — Series A at USD 4.02 per share and Series B at USD 5.03 per share — would provide up to an additional USD 255 million upon full exercise - both expiration triggers directly tied to trial execution milestones.
The transaction was led by Commodore Capital, with participation from RA Capital Management, TCGX, Invus, and Ligand Pharmaceuticals — the latter already a counterparty through a USD 100 million royalty financing agreement signed in 2024. Commodore Capital will also designate two directors to Agenus's board under the terms of the securities purchase agreement. Assuming full warrant exercise, Agenus expects the proceeds to fund operations through year-end 2031, spanning interim pathologic response data anticipated in H2 2027, an interim event-free survival analysis in H2 2029, and a final EFS analysis in H2 2030.
Botensilimab is an Fc-enhanced CTLA-4 antibody designed to improve activity in checkpoint-resistant MSS colorectal cancer. The ROBBIN trial — a randomized, global Phase III study of neoadjuvant BOT+BAL followed by standard of care versus standard of care alone — will enroll 850 patients with previously untreated high-risk Stage II and Stage III MSS colon cancer. First patient dosing is anticipated in Q1 2027. ROBBIN builds on encouraging pathological response data from earlier Phase II studies in MSS CRC.