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June 25, 2019 Bioscience Notebook

Cybrexa raises $13.4M for first cancer drug trials

By Natalie Missakian

A New Haven biotech developing drugs that send cancer-fighting agents directly into tumor cells while sparing healthy tissue said it has raised $13.4 million.

Cybrexa Therapeutics said it will use the Series B1 funding to propel its first cancer drug, CBX-11, into clinical trials by early next year, as well as to advance other drugs that are still in the preclinical stage.

Founded by serial biotech entrepreneurs Per Hellsund, Kevin Didden and Kevin Rakin, the privately-held Science Park-based startup said it has raised $21 million since launching in 2017.

“This level of financial support from our investors demonstrates the continued enthusiasm and validation for our innovative, proprietary [tumor-targeting] technology,” President and CEO Hellsund said in a statement.

Existing investors HighCape Capital Special Opportunities Fund, Cycle Venture Partners and Connecticut Innovations, the state’s venture-capital arm, participated in the most recent funding round, the company said.

Cybrexa is developing a new class of cancer drugs based on the research of Yale physician-scientists Ranjit Bindra, MD, and Peter Glazer, MD, the startup’s co-founders and scientific advisors.

The pair developed technology, called alphalex, that can drill into the cell membrane under acidic conditions, a universal feature of tumor cells.

This allows the treatment to go directly into tumor cells without damaging the healthy tissue surrounding it, leading to fewer side effects, according to the company.

CBX-11 combines the technology with a PARP inhibitor, an already approved cancer treatment which stops cells from being able to repair themselves.

Hellsund said the drug has the “potential to improve tumor response and overall survival while limiting toxicity.”

The company expects to file an investigational new drug application (IND) with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration by the end of the year.

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Branford-based biotechnology firm IsoPlexis has landed a $4 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to commercialize technology that can be used to help doctors predict how patients will respond to cancer treatment.

The grant from the NCI’s Small Business Innovation Research Development Center comes on top of a $25 million venture capital raise IsoPlexis announced last month.

Founded in 2013, IsoPlexis specializes in single-cell detection systems that allow researchers to characterize cells based on the proteins they secrete.

The company says the data can help doctors develop personalized cancer treatments for patients.

IsoPlexis said it will use the grant to commercialize its IsoLight system, which it launched in the U.S., Europe and China last year.

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The FDA has agreed to a priority review of Alexion Pharmaceuticals’ bid to market its newly approved drug Ultomiris for a second ultra-rare disease.

Regulators have set an October 19 deadline to decide whether to allow doctors to prescribe the drug for atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), which causes progressive damage to vital organs, primarily the kidneys, and can be fatal.

The priority review status shortens the FDA’s timetable for ruling on the application from 10 months to six.

Ultomiris is Alexion’s successor to its blockbuster drug Soliris. The FDA greenlighted the drug in December, but only for another ultra-rare blood disease, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). Regulators in Japan also approved the drug for PNH this month

Alexion hopes to eventually transfer most Soliris patients to the new drug, which requires fewer infusions than its predecessor.

Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com

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