Antares Therapeutics, Inc.

– Spin-out of Scorpion Therapeutics, led by former Scorpion Therapeutics management team – – Advancing multiple programs across cancer and other serious diseases; plans to advance first new product candidate into the clinic in 2026 – – Series A financing co-led by Omega Funds, Atlas Venture, Lightspeed Venture Partners, BVF Partners, and Cormorant Asset Management, with participation from other leading healthcare funds – BOSTON, MA, USA I June 10, 2025 I Antares Therapeutics, Inc. (“Antares”), a biotechnology company developing first-in-class precision medicines for cancer and other serious diseases, launched today with $177 million in Series A financing. The financing was co-led by Omega Funds, Atlas Venture, Lightspeed Venture Partners, BVF Partners, and Cormorant Asset Management, with participation from Vinyanshu Ventures, Abingworth, Invus, Tenmile, Vida Ventures, and Willett Advisors. Antares is a spin-out of Scorpion Therapeutics, Inc. (“Scorpion”), which sold its mutant-selective PI3Kα inhibitor program, STX-478, to Eli Lilly and Company (“Lilly”) in March 2025 for up to $2.5 billion in total consideration. Scorpion was founded in 2020 and, in the subsequent five years, raised a total of $420 million in financing, executed partnerships with multiple pharmaceutical companies, and generated six development candidates, three of which are in clinical testing. Antares is led by Scorpion’s former executive leadership team and is advancing a pipeline of small molecule assets developed at Scorpion, including programs in precision oncology and other therapeutic areas, as well as programs initiated through Scorpion’s 2022 transcription factor collaboration with AstraZeneca. “We took our name from Antares, the brightest star in the Scorpius constellation, and known as ‘the heart of the Scorpion.’ We are building from a strong foundation with a team of experts who are experienced in making new medicines, as well as proprietary drug discovery capabilities and a robust preclinical pipeline fueled by discoveries in drugging previously inaccessible targets,” said Adam Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Antares and former Chief Executive Officer of Scorpion. “We are committed to leveraging our expertise to address well-validated, first-in-class targets across oncology and other serious diseases, and to continuing to execute a fast-to-clinic strategy to bring medicines to patients in need.” “At Omega, we focus on identifying approaches and working with exceptional teams to deliver impactful products to patients,” said Otello Stampacchia, Ph.D., Founder and Managing Director at Omega Funds. “Antares meets each of these criteria. As one of the founding investors in Scorpion, we have had the opportunity to follow the company’s evolution very closely and have been consistently impressed by the breadth of the team’s capabilities, as well as their scientific rigor and rapid execution. I look forward to seeing the company’s vision advance by delivering differentiated, first-in-class products to treat some of the most important unmet medical needs.” Additionally, Antares announced that Pierre Fabre Laboratories, with whom Scorpion previously partnered to advance two clinical-stage, highly selective next-generation mutant EGFR inhibitors for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, has acquired global rights to both programs. Under the terms of the agreement, Pierre Fabre Laboratories will lead the continued clinical development and global commercialization of both programs, and Antares will be eligible to receive regulatory and commercial milestones and tiered royalties. Antares’ leadership team Antares is led by the former Scorpion executive team, including leaders with accomplished track records in the biotechnology industry: The company’s Board of Directors are industry veterans with company-building expertise, as well as experience pioneering breakthrough medicines: “After years of investment into its proprietary drug discovery capabilities, the team at Antares has made notable progress to unlock the therapeutic potential of targets long seen as important – but undruggable – like the large class of transcription factors,” said Sir Menelas Pangalos, Ph.D., independent member of the Antares Board. “I look forward to partnering with the Antares team as they address some of the most complex challenges in science.” “Antares will build on what Scorpion started: combining cutting edge computational and experimental chemistry and biology with laser-focused clinical development,” said Keith Flaherty, M.D., Director of Clinical Research at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. “This team has demonstrated an ability to break through longstanding limits in medicinal chemistry to advance a pipeline of first-in-class assets, aiming to change the treatment landscape for patients.” About Antares Therapeutics Antares Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing transformational, first-in-class precision medicines with a focus on validated, undruggable targets in cancer and other serious diseases with large unmet need. Antares’ most advanced program is expected to enter the clinic in 2026, with multiple additional programs in preclinical development. To learn more, visit www.antaresrx.com and follow us on LinkedIn . SOURCE: Antares Therapeutics

“We took our name from Antares, the brightest star in the Scorpius constellation, and known as ‘the heart of the Scorpion,’” said CEO Adam Friedman, M.D., Ph.D. \n After Eli Lilly snapped up Scorpion Therapeutics\' PI3Kα program earlier this year, the biotech is selling off its other two clinical assets and spinning out a new company to advance its three preclinical precision medicine candidates.The spinout, dubbed Antares Therapeutics, will be fueled by a $177 million series A round co-led by Omega Funds, Atlas Venture, Lightspeed Venture Partners, BVF Partners and Cormorant Asset Management, with other investors such as Abingworth and Vida Ventures participating as well. Antares will be guided by the Scorpion leadership team, with former Scorpion CEO Adam Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., at the helm, according to a June 10 news release.Scorpion—and now Antares—used medicinal chemistry to build out a pipeline of first-in-class hopefuls that take aim at undruggable targets in cancer and other diseases with unmet need. The Boston biotech’s portfolio includes programs initiated through Scorpion’s transcription factor deal inked with AstraZeneca in 2022.Antares’ most advanced asset is expected to enter the clinic next year, according to the company.The new biotech also shared that Pierre Fabre Laboratories has secured global rights to Scorpion’s other clinical programs: two next-gen mutant EGFR inhibitors designed to treat non-small cell lung cancer. The French pharma is taking the lead on clinical development and potential commercialization for both programs, with Antares eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties.The deal builds off a previous partnership in which Pierre Fabre offered up to $553 million in biobucks to work with Scorpion on the lung cancer candidates. At the start of this year, Scorpion had sold its mutant-selective PI3Kα inhibitor STX-478 to Lilly for up to $2.5 billion in biobucks. The deal followed a phase 1 data drop that showed STX-478 may have an edge over Novartis’ Piqray and Roche’s Itovebi.“We took our name from Antares, the brightest star in the Scorpius constellation, and known as ‘the heart of the Scorpion,’” CEO Friedman said in the release. “We are building from a strong foundation with a team of experts who are experienced in making new medicines, as well as proprietary drug discovery capabilities and a robust preclinical pipeline fueled by discoveries in drugging previously inaccessible targets.”

About five months after Eli Lilly agreed to acquire Scorpion Therapeutics' PI3Kα inhibitor programme for up to $2.5 billion, the biotech's leadership team has returned at the helm of Antares Therapeutics.Spun out from Scorpion to continue its work in precision oncology, Antares launched Tuesday with a $177-million series A — though it's staying mum on what's next after the success of its PI3Kα inhibitor STX-478.The financing was co-led by Omega Funds, Atlas Venture, Lightspeed Venture Partners, BVF Partners and Cormorant Asset Management; additional backers Vinyanshu Ventures, Abingworth, Invus, Tenmile, Vida Ventures and Willett Advisors also participated. The spinout was expected; when the Scorpion acquisition was announced, it revealed plans to create a new entity to house its non-PI3Kα assets, with Lilly maintaining a minority stake."During the transaction process, the Scorpion Board identified an opportunity to keep this highly effective team intact while advancing our early-stage pipeline of first-in-class programmes," an Antares spokesperson told FirstWord. "This deal structure allowed us to deliver value to our long-term shareholders while at the same time building on our discovery and development foundation to continue driving our innovative programs forward."Pipeline under wrapsBroadly, Antares is developing small molecules against "undruggable" targets, but it's keeping its pipeline under wraps until at least next year, the spokesperson said. "Our discovery capabilities and proprietary development methods have broad applicability, and while we have not disclosed our first disease target, internally our efforts are focused on pursuing first-in-class targets or 'best-through-first' approaches to validated targets in cancer and other serious diseases with large unmet need," they added.In addition to its internal pipeline, the biotech inherited a partnership with AstraZeneca to develop transcription factor–targeting programmes under a 2022 deal the pharma made with Scorpion.Antares has also offloaded two other candidates. In 2023, Pierre Fabre Laboratories ponied up $65 million in upfront and near-term payments to co-develop a pair of EGFR inhibitors discovered by Scorpion — STX-721 and STX-241 — for non–small-cell lung cancer. Now, the French firm has acquired global rights to both programmes and will be responsible for their clinical development and commercialisation, Antares said Monday. It remains eligible for regulatory and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties.