Vittoria Biotherapeutics

NEWEST PARTNER - October 2023

Philadelphia, PA - Vittoria Biotherapeutics is developing novel CAR-T cell therapies that transcend the limitations of current cell therapies. Based on technology exclusively licensed from the University of Pennsylvania, Vittoria's proprietary Senza5 platform unlocks the antitumor potential of engineered T cells and utilizes a five-day manufacturing process to maximize stemness, durability, and target cell cytotoxicity. By acting on the fundamental biology of T cells, Senza5 can be used to improve the efficacy of engineered T cell therapies with pipeline applications in oncology and autoimmune diseases.

Vittoria aims to conduct a Phase 1 dose escalation clinical trial for its lead program VIPER-101, an autologous, dual population CD5-knockout CAR-T cell therapy for T-cell Lymphoma featuring the novel Senza5 platform technology. The IND has been cleared by the FDA and the the Phase 1 dose escalation clinical trial is expected to begin soon. Several other products are in earlier preclinical development.

Enterome

NEWEST PARTNER - October 2023

Paris, France - Enterome is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing breakthrough immunomodulatory drugs for the treatment of cancer and immune diseases. Enterome’s pioneering approach to drug discovery is based on its unique and powerful bacterial Mimicry drug discovery platform, allowing it to analyze and uncover new biological insights from the millions of gut bacterial proteins in constant cross-talk with the human body. Its first-in-class small protein and peptide drug candidates modulate the immune system by closely mimicking the structure, effect or actions of specific antigens, hormones, or cytokines. 

EO2463 is a clinical-stage off-the-shelf peptide-based immunotherapy and is currently enrolling in a multicenter,  Phase 1/2 trial investigating EO2463 in monotherapy and in combination with standard of care - rituximab and rituximab in combination with lenalidomide – for treatment of patients with indolent NHL (NCT04669171).

Abintus Bio

San Diego, CA - Abintus Bio is developing cutting-edge in vivo CAR therapies that allow for powerful CAR T cells to be generated directly in a patient’s body, eliminating the need for time-consuming and costly collection, engineering and re-infusion of patient T cells. 

Products are in preclinical development with a goal to explore in blood cancers and solid tumors using this novel technology platform being developed by Abintus.

Affimed

Heidelberg, Germany - Affimed is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company committed to giving patients back their innate ability to fight cancer by actualizing the untapped potential of the innate immune system using the proprietary ROCK® platform to enable a tumor-targeted approach to recognize and kill a range of hematologic and solid tumors.

AFM13 is bispecific tetravalent engager targeting CD30 on tumor cells and CD16A on NK cells and macrophages. AFM13 in combination with AB-101 (allogeneic natural killer cells) is currently in a Phase 2 clinical trial in relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma or CD30-positive PTCL (NCT05883449).

BioInvent International

Lund, Sweden - BioInvent International AB is a clinical-stage biotech company that discovers and develops novel and first-in-class immuno-modulatory antibodies for cancer therapy. The Company's validated, proprietary F.I.R.S.T™ technology platform identifies both targets and the antibodies that bind to them, generating many promising new drug candidates to fuel the Company's own clinical development pipeline and providing licensing and partnering opportunities.

BI-1206 is a novel anti-FcyRIIB antibody currently being studied in two Phase 1/2 trials, in combination with rituximab in NHL (NCT03571568) and in combination with pembrolizumab in solid tumors.

BI-1808 is an anti-TNFR2 antibody being evaluated in a Phase 1/2a trial, as a single agent and in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with ovarian cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (NCT04752826).

Caribou Biosciences

Berkeley, CA - Caribou is a clinical-stage biotechnology company, co-founded by CRISPR pioneer and Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D., using next-generation CRISPR genome-editing technology to develop “off-the-shelf” (allogeneic) CAR therapies for hard-to-treat blood cancers.

CB-010, an allogeneic CD19 CAR-T cell therapy in which PD-1 was genetically disrupted in the CAR-T genome, leading to more durable anti-tumor activity in preclinical studies, is being evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial expansion cohort for second-line patients with large B cell lymphoma (NCT04637763).

CB-011, an allogeneic BCMA CAR-T cell therapy that is immunologically cloaked for enhanced persistence, is being evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (NCT05722418).

CB-012, an allogeneic CLL1 CAR-T cell therapy engineered with five genome edits, is the first allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy with both checkpoint disruption through a PD-1 knockout and immune cloaking. The Phase 1 clinical trial for patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia is ongoing (NCT06128044).

Constellation Pharmaceuticals

Munich, Germany - Constellation Pharmaceuticals was a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics that selectively modulate gene expression to address serious unmet medical needs in patients with cancer. MorphoSys acquired Constellation in July 2021 and continues to enroll patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms in multiple clinical studies.

Pelabresib (CPI-0610) is a small molecule inhibitor of bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) proteins. Pelabresib in combination with ruxolitinib is in a Phase 3 clinical trial (NCT04603495) for myelofibrosis patients that have not been previously treated with Janus kinase inhibitors. Topline data and full details were presented during an oral session at the 2023 ASH Annual Meeting. All hallmarks of myelofibrosis were improved with the pelabresib and ruxolitinib combination versus placebo plus ruxolitinib, which is the standard of care in myelofibrosis. The company expects to file a new drug application in mid-2024 both in the US and Europe. 

Dimericon Therapeutics

Zurich, Switzerland - Dimericon is a private biotech company focused on exploring crosslinked helix dimers (Dimericons) as therapeutics and templates for small molecule development. Dimericon’s technology targets hard-to-drug intracellular protein-protein interactions using rationally designed mimetics of helix dimers. The Seed round of financing will support preclinical studies to further develop the current lead compound to be an IND ready clinical candidate in hematological malignancies.

Dren Bio

Foster City, CA - Dren Bio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune and other serious diseases. Dren Bio’s pipeline encompasses two distinct programs, the first focusing on the engineering of antibodies with enhanced antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (“ADCC”) capabilities and the second revolving around its proprietary Targeted Myeloid Engager and Phagocytosis Platform.

DR-01 is a novel antibody targeting CD94 which is known to be upregulated on LGLL cells. DR-01 functions through depletion of target cells via ADCC by means of fratricide, a method in which the same cell type induces ADCC on each other. A phase 1/2 trial has been initiated to assess the safety and efficacy of DR-01 in previously treated LGLL patients (NCT05475925).

Faron Pharmaceuticals

Turku, Finland - Faron Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel treatments for medical conditions with significant unmet needs caused by dysfunction of our immune system. The Company currently has a pipeline based on the receptors involved in regulation of immune response in oncology, organ damage and bone marrow regeneration. 

Bexmarilimab, a novel anti-Clever-1 humanized antibody, is its investigative precision immunotherapy with the potential to provide permanent immune stimulation for difficult-to-treat cancers through targeting myeloid function. A Phase 2 study (BEXMAB) of bexmarilimab in combination with azacitidine is currently enrolling high-risk MDS patients in the US and Finland (NCT05428969).

ImCheck Therapeutics

Marseille, France - ImCheck Therapeutics is designing and developing a new generation of immunotherapeutic antibodies targeting butyrophilins, a novel super-family of immunomodulators.

ICT01 is a humanized, anti-BTN3A (also known as CD277) monoclonal antibody that selectively activates γ9δ2 T cells, which are part of the innate immune system that is responsible for immunosurveillance of malignancy and infections. A clinical trial (EVICTION) is currently enrolling a Phase 2 cohort expansion of ICT01 in combination with azacitidine and venetoclax in patients with untreated acute myeloid leukemia (NCT04243499).

Immune-Onc Therapeutics

Palo Alto, CA - Immune-Onc is a clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel myeloid checkpoint inhibitors for cancer patients.

IO-202 is a first-in-class monoclonal antibody that antagonizes LILRB4. IO-202 is in a Phase 1 expansion clinical trial in combination with azacitidine for the treatment of advanced monocytic AML and CMML (NCT0437243). In June 2023, the FDA granted Fast Track designation to IO-202 for the treatment of R/R CMML, which follows the R/R AML Fast Track designation received in February 2022.

Immunitas Therapeutics

Waltham, MA - Immunitas is committed to discovering and developing novel, differentiated therapeutics for patients with cancer using a discovery engine that combines deep expertise in single-cell genomics with customized machine learning approaches to elucidate immune cell populations that are key actors in immuno-oncology.

IMT-009 is a first-in-class NK and T cell modulator targeting CD161 that is being developed for the treatment of solid tumors and lymphomas and is in a Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT05565417).

Kura Oncology

San Diego, CA - Kura Oncology is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to realizing the promise of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer with a pipeline that consists of small molecule drug candidates that target cancer signaling pathways.

Ziftomenib (KO-539) is selective small molecule inhibitor of menin. Ziftomenib is currently in a Phase 2 registration-directed clinical trial in patients with NPM1-mutant relapsed or refractory AML (NCT04067336). 

Kymera Therapeutics

Watertown, MA - Kymera Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded with the mission to discover, develop, and commercialize transformative therapies while leading the evolution of targeted protein degradation, a transformative new approach to address previously intractable disease targets.

KT-333 is STAT3 protein degrader and is enrolling NHL patients in a Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT05225584).

KT-253 is a MDM2 protein degrader and is enrolling AML patients in a Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT05775406).

Rgenta Therapeutics

Cambridge, MA - Rgenta Therapeutics is developing a pipeline of oral, small-molecule RNA-targeting medicines with an initial focus on oncology and neurological disorders. Rgenta has a proprietary platform to mine the massive genomics data to identify targetable RNA processing events and to design small-molecule glues to modulate the interactions among the spliceosome, regulatory proteins, and RNAs. 

Rgenta is working closely with LLS TAP to further develop RNA-targeting molecules by supporting preclinical studies with the goal of moving towards clinical development in hematological malignancies. 

Ryvu Therapeutics

Krakow, Poland - Ryvu Therapeutics is a clinical-stage drug discovery and development company focusing on novel small molecule therapies that address emerging targets in oncology using a proprietary discovery engine platform.

RVU120 is a highly selective first-in-class CDK8/CDK19 small molecule inhibitor. RVU120 is currently in a Phase 2 clinical trial in combination with venetoclax for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (NCT06191263).