Cell therapy has zero effect on cancer cells, but tumors can still find ways to evade this targeted approach. ImmPACT Bio’s cell therapy is designed to prevent tumor escape, and clinical-stage biotechnology has Raised $111 million to advance their development.
The Series B round, announced Thursday, was led by venBio Partners. Meanwhile, Camarillo, Calif.-based ImmPACT reported encouraging early clinical data that its treatment is part of the next generation of personalized cell therapy and is working in patients.
CAR-T drugs are the first generation of cancer cell therapy, made by engineering a patient’s T cells to target tumors. The first two such cell therapies, Novartis’ Kymriah and Gilead Sciences’ Yescarta, were designed to target CD19, a protein found on the surface of tumor cells in some blood cancers. While these treatments can help many patients, cancer is still tricky. Targeting of CD19 can result in antigen loss on the tumor, allowing the cancer to escape CAR-T therapy. CD19 antigen loss It is one of the causes of relapse in patients receiving CAR-T therapy.
ImmPACT is developing bispecific cell therapies – they are designed to track two targets on cancer cells. The company’s lead program is a T-cell designed to target CD19 and CD20, another cancer protein. This cell therapy is being developed to treat blood cancers. A Phase 1 study is evaluating the treatment of patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma who have relapsed or have not responded to earlier treatments.
On Thursday, ImmPACT reported updated clinical data from its first cohort of patients. Of the eight patients who have received ImmPACT cell therapy to date, the company reports that seven achieved and remained in complete remission. The median follow-up for these patients was 12 months. The risk of neurotoxicity or cytokine release syndrome, neither of which CAR-T therapy has been an issue in this study so far, was well tolerated by patients. ImmPACT said it will present the data at a future scientific meeting.
Bispecific CAR-T technology from Kalthera, merge Partnered with ImmPACT last year. Kalthera’s science is based on research by UCLA scientists Yvonne Chen and Antoni Ribas. ImmPACT appeared in 2020, got $18 million in Series A funding funds. According to research by Gideon Gross of the MIGAL-Galilee Institute, the company is developing engineered T-cell therapies targeting gene deletions in solid tumors. The research is now part of the second ImmPACT technology platform, which has a preclinical development program. A third platform was used to develop CAR cells that target TGF-beta, a cytokine or signaling protein that plays a role in regulating cancer cells. The goal is to convert the immunosuppressive effects of this cytokine into T cell stimulation. The study is also a preclinical study.
ImmPACT said it will use the Series B cash to continue developing its CAR-T therapy. In addition to the capital injection, ImmPACT also announced the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer, Sumant Ramachandra, the former Chief Science, Technology and Medical Officer of Baxter International. Ramachandra’s experience includes senior roles at Pfizer and Hospira.
“We are encouraged by these initial results from our Phase 1 clinical study and look forward to advancing our pipeline of transformative next-generation CAR T-cell therapies that harness the immune system and address key challenges of current cancer cell therapy,” Ramachandra said in preparation good statement.
ImmPACT’s latest financing includes co-lead investments from Foresite Capital and Decheng Capital. Other participants in the round include Surveyor Capital and early investor OrbiMed, Novartis Venture Fund, RM Global Partners and Bukwang Pharmaceutical.
public domain image by National Cancer Institute
