Pfizer pours $25M investment into Caribou's cell therapies
06 Jul 2023
Cell TherapyFast TrackPhase 1ImmunotherapyGene Therapy
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Source: FierceBiotech
Pfizer is encouraged by Caribou Biosciences' CRISPR hybrid RNA-DNA guides gene editing tech dubbed chRDNAs.
Pfizer is backing Caribou Biosciences with a $25 million equity investment, money the genome editing company will pour into its allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy for multiple myeloma.
Pfizer purchased 4.6 million shares of Caribou common stock at $5.33 per share in a deal that added up to $25 million and closed June 30. Caribou, which boasts a pipeline of off-the-shelf cell therapies from its CAR-T and CAR-NK platforms, had $291 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of March 31.
The California-based biotech will funnel the new money into CB-011, its allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy being studied in a phase 1 clinical trial in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The asset, which has secured fast-track designation from the FDA, is one of the first allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies to enter the clinic that is engineered to improve anti-tumor activity through an immune cloaking strategy, according to Caribou. The therapy targets the B-cell maturation antigen and is designed to remove the B2M protein and insert a B2M-HLA-E fusion protein that prevents immune-mediated rejection.
Pfizer is encouraged by Caribou’s CRISPR hybrid RNA-DNA guides gene editing tech—dubbed chRDNAs—and the potential allogeneic cell therapies have as off-the-shelf cancer treatments, Sriram Krishnaswami, Ph.D., Pfizer’s vice president and development head for multiple myeloma and global product development, said in a July 6 release. In connection with the equity investment, Krishnaswami is also joining Caribou’s scientific advisory board.
Caribou has a lot to prove with its phase 1 trial ANTLER study for CB-010, which has enrolled patients with relapsed or refractory B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Last year, just weeks after celebrating a 100% overall response rate, the biotech revealed that 50% of patients relapsed within six months of receiving its lead allogeneic CAR-T.
Durability is a widespread issue for allogeneic CAR-T developers. In an attempt to tackle CAR-T cell exhaustion and maintain high anti-tumor activity for a longer time, Caribou had removed the PD-1 receptors from its anti-CD19 candidate CB-010. However, last year’s results raise questions about the impact of the work to boost durability.
The relapses overshadowed other, more encouraging aspects of the data, like the 100% complete response rate at the starting dose of 40 million CAR-T cells and no high-grade safety events.
Based on the data, Caribou started enrolling patients at the second dose level, 80 million CAR-T cells. Doubling the dose could drive longer-lasting responses, enabling Caribou to differentiate itself from the rest of the allogeneic CAR-T space and renew confidence in its durability approach.
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