Obsidian Completes Galera Merger with $350M Private Placement Financing

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Obsidian Therapeutics completed a previously announced transaction that brings Galera Therapeutics under the Obsidian name. Before closing the merger, Obsidian also completed an oversubscribed private placement financing of $350 million.

As a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, Obsidian uses novel protein-regulation technology to develop engineered tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) cell therapies. Among these: lead candidate OBX-115, in trials for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, Phase I) and advanced melanoma (Phase II).

In fact, the U.S. FDA granted OBX-115 Fast Track and Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy status in unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

Obsidian Lends Tech to Galera Partnership

Obsidian is leveraging its cytoDRIVE platform in order to develop engineered TIL cell therapies like OBX-115. The proprietary technology precisely regulates timing and level of protein function through the use of FDA-approved small-molecule drugs.

OBX-115 has potential, Obsidian says, to reduce overall treatment burden. Additionally, options exist for minimally invasive core needle biopsy tumor tissue procurement, exclusively low-dose lymphodepletion compatible with outpatient administration.

“We are well-positioned to deliver best-in-class TIL cell therapies to patients with solid tumors,” Obsidian CEO Madan Jagasia, MD, said.

Jagasia added enrollment of patients with immune checkpoint inhibitor-resistant advanced melanoma in the registration-enabling cohort of Obsidian’s study is imminent.

Data from the Phase I NSCLC trial are expected in the first half of 2027. Topline data from the melanoma trial should be coming by end of 2027.

Merger Financial Details

The oversubscribed private placement financing included both a syndicate of new investors, and multiple pre-existing investors in Obsidian.

At closing, the financial balance of Obsidian and Galera combined funds operations into the second half of 2028. This timeline provides a runway for the expected key clinical milestones for OBX-115.

Obsidian’s offices are located in two sites in Massachusetts, in Cambridge and Bedford.