American biotechnology company Agenus, founded by Armenian-born entrepreneur Garo Armen, has secured up to $340 million in funding to launch the international Phase III clinical trial ROBBIN.

The funds will be used to study the combination of two drugs – botensilimab (BOT) and balstilimab (BAL) – for the treatment of microsatellite-stable (MSS) colorectal cancer. This form of the disease is the most common among bowel cancer cases, but has so far responded poorly to modern immunotherapy methods.

The financial deal provides for an immediate receipt of $85 million and an additional $255 million through the exercise of warrants. With full funding, Agenus expects to ensure the conduct of the study and the company's operations until the end of 2031.

The ROBBIN trial will involve approximately 850 patients from various countries. The first participants are expected to be enrolled in the program in the first quarter of 2027.

Garo Armen has been developing cancer immunotherapy for over 30 years. When Agenus was founded, chemotherapy remained the primary treatment for oncological diseases, and using the immune system against tumors was considered an experimental approach. Today, immunotherapy has become one of the key areas of modern oncology.

The BOT/BAL combination previously showed promising results in the NEST and UNICORN studies. According to Agenus, approximately 60–70% of patients showed a pathological response to treatment, and a complete pathological response was recorded in about a third of participants. These results allowed for the transition to a large-scale international study.