Judith Oke
Pfizer’s $25m investment is to support CellCentric’s CCS1477 to treat refractory and relapsed multiple myeloma. Image credit: Gumbariya/Shutterstock
Each week, Clinical Trials Arena editors select a deal that illustrates the themes driving change in our sector. The deal may not always be the largest in value, or the highest profile. But we select it because of what it tells us about where the leading companies are focusing their efforts, and why.
We pick apart the deal itself, and the industry theme behind it. This new, thematic deal coverage is driven by our underlying
Disruptor data
which tracks all major deals, patents, company filings, hiring patterns and social media buzz across our sectors.
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Companies Intelligence
Pfizer Inc
CellCentric Ltd
CBP
MM Holding AG
ASH
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The deal
Pfizer
, one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies, has provided CellCentric strategic financing for its lead candidate, inobrodib. As part of the deal, vice president for Pfizer’s Tumour Biology, Astrid Ruefli-Brasse, will join CellCentric’s scientific advisory board and Sriram Krishnaswami, vice president and development head for multiple myeloma, will serve as an advisor.
Why it matters?
Pfizer’s $25m investment is to support CellCentric’s first-in-class p300/CBP inhibitor to treat specific cancer types via its Pfizer Ignite initiative.
The clinical development programme is a new end-to-end service for biotech companies with prospective early science to take advantage of Pfizer’s significant research and development (R&D) capabilities, scale and expertise to advance the development of breakthrough therapies.
“We are delighted to partner with Pfizer to facilitate planning an optimal route to market for inobrodib. This agreement will enable us to build on the strong early clinical data observed to date in RRMM patients,” said Will West, CEO and co-founder, CellCentric.
The collaboration comes after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted CellCentric
Fast Track designation
for inobrodib (CCS1477) to treat late-stage relapsed refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) and
orphan drug designation
in MM.
CCS1477 is an oral capsule that can be administered away from a medical facility: at home and does not require close monitoring. The mechanism of action is novel and can be given alone and in combination with other standard of care treatments to patients unresponsive to other drugs.
CellCentric’s pipeline trials include an ongoing blood cancer trial (
NCT04068597
) involving patients with a range of haematological malignancies including multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, acute myeloid leukaemia, and higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).
The detail
CellCentric is presently focused on MM and its lead candidate, CCS1477. Therefore, the company plans to use the provided funds to accelerate CCS1477’s development for MM and other indications in its pipeline. Pfizer will work closely with the privately owned company over the period of the drug development.
More data readouts are expected at the 65th American Society of Haematology (ASH) meeting in San Diego, California from 8 to 12 December 2023.
More research:
Pharmaceutical Drugs Development Annual Review, Sales and Forecast, Key Trends and Competitive Analysis