Durham, NC—A therapy that holds promise for enlisting the immune system in the fight against cancer, HIV and infectious disease just got a shot in the arm. Argos Therapeutics has closed a $35.2 million tranched Series C round led by TVM Capital with participation from new investors Mizuho Capital, Morningside Group and Japan Asia Investment Co.

Existing investors, Lumira Capital, Forbion Capital Partners, CDP Capital, Intersouth Partners, Aurora Capital, and GeneChem also invested in the round.

Kirin Pharma Co., which has an on-going worldwide collaboration with Argos, also participated. The 66-employee company has raised a total of about $57 million.

Proceeds from the round will be used to fund Phase 2 efficacy results for the company’s Arcelis immunotherapy candidates in renal cell carcinoma and HIV.

The financing will also support the further development of Argos’ CD83 protein immunology program through an initial human clinical trial in transplantation.

John Bonfiglio, Ph.D., president and CEO of Argos, tells TechJournal South that this funding will take the company through three major Phase 2 trials by the end of 2009.

“The whole area of dendritic cell-based therapies is being explored by a number of companies. It’s the master switch that turns the immune system on and off. But we have a proprietary way of making them extremely potent compared to others and we’re the only one that loads them with RNA from a specific tumor or infectious disease.”

Currently, he says, “Dendritic cell therapies are at the same place where antibodies were 25 years ago.” By 2009 and the completion of a number of clinical trials, however, “You’ll see an explosion of data regarding dendritic cells and the whole area will be highly regarded.”

Bonfiglio notes that the company has a five-year NIH contract worth up to $21 million in milestone payments to develop a next-generation HIV treatment. “We’re running a Phase 2 trial right now.” The NIH deal, he says, “Is very important to us.”

“The team at Argos has demonstrated significant progress in building a solid pipeline based on its promising, unique approach to immunotherapy,” said Hubert Birner, Ph.D., General Partner of TVM Capital and Argos’ Chairman.

“We believe that the Company’s many near-term data events, combined with its ability to move into additional cancer and infectious disease indications with its Arcelis platform technology, as well autoimmune disorders with its CD83 soluble protein, position Argos as a leader in the immunotherapy field.”

He said, “After demonstrating proof-of-principle and the superior potency of our Arcelis platform with these resources, we would be poised to enter pivotal trials with our dendritic cell-based immunotherapies.”

Argos has received more than half of the total proceeds of the financing, with the balance scheduled to be received by the Company in late 2008.

Bonfiglio says the company is only hiring to replace workers lost to attrition.

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