CellCentric pockets $220m for blood cancer programme
CellCentric's chief executive, Will West.
UK-headquartered biotech CellCentric has raised $220 million in a Series D financing that will help to fund pivotal trials of oral p300/CBP inhibitor inobrodib in multiple myeloma.
The Anglo-US company recently started dosing patients in the phase 2 DOMMINO-1 study of inobrodib in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone (InoPd) in heavily pretreated multiple myeloma patients in the UK and US, and is in the planning stages for an international phase 3 trial, DOMMINO-2, before the end of the year.
DOMMINO-2 will also look at the InoPd regimen in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Meanwhile, CellCentric is also exploring combinations of the potentially first-in-class p300/CBP inhibitor with Pfizer's Elrexfio (elranatamab) and Johnson & Johnson's Tecvayli (teclistamab), both BCMAxCD3 bispecific antibodies, which are respectively approved as fifth- and second-line or later therapies for multiple myeloma.
The Series D is the second sizeable financing from a UK biotech this week, coming shortly after Cytospire Therapeutics raised $83 million for its T-cell engager pipeline, and adds to the recovery in UK biotech industry investing that has emerged since the start of the year. It also comes around a year after CellCentric closed a $120 million third-round financing, which was one of the largest for a UK biotech last year.
The latest cash injection will also be used by CellCentric to expand clinical testing of inobrodib into additional combination and maintenance treatment settings, said the Cambridge and Boston-based biotech in a statement.
Data reported at last year's ASH congress from a phase 2 InoPd dose-optimisation study showed the combination achieved at least a two-fold increase in response rates compared to alternative medicines in patients who had received a median of five earlier lines of therapy.
The financing was led by specialist investor Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, with participation from a strong syndicate of new and existing investors that included Fidelity Management & Research Co, Sofinnova Partners, HBM Healthcare, RA Capital Management, Forbion, Pfizer, Avego BioScience Capital, and American Cancer Society BrightEdge.
"We are thrilled to have the support of top-tier investors who believe in inobrodib's potential to address a critical need in multiple myeloma, notably after bispecific T cell engager or anti-BCMA therapies," said CellCentric's chief executive, Will West, noting this is a "significant and growing unmet need."
He added: "Inobrodib is a new modality and a potential fresh option for patients that is orally administered. Fuelled by this funding, we are well-positioned to complete registration enabling studies for the all-oral triplet and advance our progress toward delivering a transformative treatment."
