Gritstone Bio

Gritstone Bio (formerly known as Gritstone Oncology) is a biotechnology company engaged in developing tumor-specific immunotherapies for various types of cancer and infectious diseases. Its proprietary AI platform, Edge, is designed to predict tumor-specific neoantigens from a routine tumor biopsy. Based on this, the company develops immunotherapies that can drive the patient’s immune system to attack and destroy tumors. The company claims its platform has shown a nine-fold improvement in accuracy for predicting tumors in comparison to publicly available approaches. 

As of March 2024, the company’s pipeline included six drug candidates, including its lead product candidate, GRANITE, an individualized immunotherapy in Phase II/III clinical trials for microsatellite stable colorectal cancers, and SLATE, an off-the-shelf immunotherapy candidate, is in Phase II clinical trials for metastatic solid tumors. 

Key customers and partnerships

Gritstone Bio has key customers that develop candidates using its technology. These include partnerships with 1) National Cancer Institute to evaluate a neoantigen cell therapy-vaccine combination using Gritstone’s AI platform ( February 2023 ), 2) Gilead Sciences to research and develop a vaccine-based immunotherapy using Gritstone’s technology ( February 2021 ), and 3) Bluebird Bio to develop novel cancer cell therapies using Gritstone’s AI platform ( August 2018 ).

In addition, it partnered with Genevant Sciences to develop and commercialize self-amplifying RNA vaccines using Genevant’s lipid nanoparticle technology ( August 2023 ) and with Friends of Cancer Research to join the ctDNA to Monitor Treatment Response (ctMoniTR) Project ( August 2023 ).

Funding and financials

The company filed for an IPO in September 2018, raising USD 100 million. In October 2022 , the company raised USD 45 million via a private placement in public equity financing. The funds were expected to be used for clinical development of oncology and infectious disease programs and for general corporate purposes.

In September 2023 , the company secured a USD 433 million contract from the US government to conduct a mid-stage study of its self-amplifying mRNA Covid-19 vaccine candidate.

For FY2023 , it reported USD 16.3 million in revenue from collaborations, an 18% decrease YoY. Further, the company reported net losses of USD 138.5 million, increasing 16% YoY.