Square 1 Bank, a division of Pacific Western Bank, announced that it has provided a $15 million credit facility to new client Unum Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing cellular immunotherapies for the treatment of many different cancers. The facility will provide access to growth capital to support strategic initiatives and general corporate purposes.

Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Unum develops combination cancer therapies using recent advances in T-cell engineering and antibody therapeutics. Unlike other cellular immunotherapy approaches, Unum's proprietary Antibody-Coupled T-Cell Receptor (ACTR) may be used in combination with a variety of cancer-specific antibodies to treat different cancer types. Unum's lead program is currently undergoing Phase I clinical testing to evaluate safety and efficacy in certain forms of lymphoma. The company is backed by several top-tier institutional investors and leading life sciences venture capital firms including F-Prime Capital, Atlas Venture, New Leaf Venture Partners and Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures.

"With our universal ACTR T-cell technology we can rapidly develop cell therapies against multiple targets," said Christiana Stamoulis, chief financial officer and head of corporate development of Unum Therapeutics. "Square 1 was able to provide Unum a non-dilutive funding option to accelerate the pursuit of a plethora of opportunities that we can tackle with our technology."

"Unum is developing a universal ACTR therapy that addresses the limitations of other T-cell immunotherapy approaches," added Scott Hansen, senior vice president in Square 1's life sciences practice. "We are thrilled to work with the company's world-class team and support their vision to develop a single cell therapy approach that can be applied to the treatment of numerous cancers."