Cancer Targeted Technology LLC

Published: August 07, 2020 09:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE) Cancer Targeted Technology (CTT), a privately-held Seattle-based biotechnology company, announced that the NIH awarded CTT $1.44M on the second year of a competitive Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase IIB grant. The three year grant commenced in 2019 and totals $3.3M and this second year of funding supports the current CTT1403 clinical trial. The clinical trial, conducted at University of California, San Francisco with Dr. Rahul Aggarwal as Principal Investigator, is a 30-40 patient dose escalation/expansion trial in men with advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer. The trial is designed to show safety and efficacy of CTT1403 and is halfway through the initial dose escalation phase. To date there have been no safety issues with the drug and the pharmacokinetic data support the longer circulation time of CTT1403 in the blood stream as compared to other PSMA agents currently in clinical trials. "These PSMA-targeted agents are already transforming how prostate cancer is diagnosed and treated and we are very pleased that the NIH continues to support the development of these exciting new agents. CTT1403, with its longer circulating time and better tumor targeting characteristics, offers distinct advantages in this treatment arena providing the patient with cost and treatment benefits,” commented Dr. Beatrice Langton-Webster, CTT’s CEO and Principal Investigator on the grant. The unique chemical structure for CTT1403 was conceived of by Dr. Cliff Berkman, Professor at Washington State University (WSU). CTT1403 targets Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) which is over-expressed on prostate cancer. Two features make CTT1403 unlike other PSMA-targeted drugs currently in development: 1) Due to a unique core scaffold, CTT’s molecules bind irreversibly to PSMA and this distinctive mode of binding enables rapid uptake of the drug within the tumor; and 2) CTT1403 is engineered to increase the circulation time of the drug in the body which further substantially increases the dose of drug that accumulates at the tumor sites. CTT1403 is labeled with the radionuclide Lutetium-177 and once delivered to the tumor, the radionuclide acts to destroy the tumor cells. CTT completed two clinical trials at UCSF with CTT1057, the companion PET diagnostic imaging agent to CTT1403, with excellent safety and imaging results for both prostate cancer and renal cell carcinoma. CTT1057 is undergoing further development for prostate cancer by CTT’s licensing partner AAA/Novartis. CTT1057 and CTT1403 serve as a theranostic pair to both diagnose and treat solid tumors that express PSMA, and are being used together in the current clinical trial. More information on the trial can be found at clinicaltrials.gov. View source version on businesswire.com https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200807005027/en Contacts Cancer Targeted Technology Dr. Beatrice Langton-Webster bealw@cancertargetedtechnology.com

Cancer Targeted Technology Receives an SBIR Grant and Announces Expansion of Its Pipeline October 23, 2018 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cancer Targeted Technology (CTT), a privately-held Seattle-based biotechnology company focusing on small molecules that bind to pivotal enzyme cancer targets, announced that it received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to develop CTT1700, a unique prodrug targeted at men with prostate cancer that express Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA). PSMA is over-expressed on prostate cancer and this expression increases as the cancer metastasizes and becomes hormone-resistant. Unlike other agents targeting PSMA in development, CTT’s agents bind irreversibly to PSMA. This distinctive mode of binding enhances uptake and results in rapid and extensive internalization by tumor cells, leading to increased accumulation of the drugs within the tumor. CTT1700 relies on a novel drug-release technology that is triggered by the pH inside of the cell to selectively release the chemotherapy once inside the tumor cells. As a result, toxic side effects to bystander or normal cells are reduced or eliminated. "This new chemotherapeutic drug, CTT1700, like all of CTT’s drugs, are based on the same versatile modular PSMA-targeting platform. This platform allows for rapid development of various PSMA-targeted agents by conveniently swapping out the payload,” commented Dr. Cliff Berkman, Professor of Chemistry at Washington State University (WSU) and consultant to CTT as its Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Berkman and WSU were instrumental in developing the new drug-release technology for CTT1700 that was licensed to CTT in 2017. CTT’s pipeline now includes three important drugs targeting cancers that express PSMA. CTT1057 is a diagnostic PET imaging agent capable of rapidly and sensitively detecting metastatic disease in prostate cancer patients. CTT1057 demonstrated excellent results in Phase 1 clinical trials completed in 2017 and the drug was licensed to AAA/Novartis in January, 2018. The second agent, CTT1403, is a radiotherapeutic drug that delivers a therapeutic dose of 177-lutetium to tumor cells expressing PSMA. CTT1403, unlike other PSMA-targeted drugs, includes an albumin binding component that imparts a long circulation time allowing for more of the drug to get to the tumor cells. CTT1403 is expected to start Phase I clinical trials in prostate cancer patients in early 2019. CTT1700, currently in preclinical development, is the third agent in CTT’s pipeline and would be the first drug to use binding to the PSMA biomarker to target chemotherapy to prostate cancer. Contacts Cancer Targeted Technology Dr. Beatrice Langton-Webster bealw@cancertargetedtechnology.com

Palmaz Scientific said last week that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while it seeks a buyer for the medical alloy technology it was developing, claiming its ability to attract investors was “seriously impaired by a negative campaign of false information.” Co-founded by coronary stent pioneer Dr. Julio Palmaz in 2008, the San Antonio, Texas-based company last summer told its shareholders that Palmaz planned to resign as chairman in favor of former Kinetic Concepts Inc. CEO Cathy Burzik. Serving as interim CEO, Burzik was to have help find a replacement for ex-chief Steven Solomon, and a cash infusion from a group of investors led by venture capital shop Targeted Technology, where Burzik is an operating partner. Palmaz was to have remained with his namesake as chief scientific officer. But the deal fell apart within days after Targeted Technology backed out. Palmaz told MassDevice.com at the time that the decision to end the deal was mutual and in the best interest of Palmaz Scientific’s shareholders. The company said March 4 that its “ability to attract capital investment and continue its business operations has been seriously impaired by a negative campaign of false information disseminated by certain individuals about the company. Litigation involving these false charges was brought by and against the company in 2015. The company seeks millions of dollars in damages.” Palmaz Scientific said the individuals gave false information to “investors, potential business partners, the news media and even federal government authorities – resulting in substantial damage to the company and crippling its ability to maintain its ongoing operations.” “For example, the company asserted that the misinformation prompted a federal investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office in Dallas. The company quickly and completely cooperated in the investigation and was cleared in a letter from the U.S. attorney’s office, which not only closed their investigation, but also praised the company’s timely and transparent response,” Palmaz Scientific said in a press release, claiming that it suffered “irreparable harm due to the spread of this so-called ‘information,’ with potential transactions and development projects with large medical device companies falling victim to the defamation campaign. The company will vigorously pursue its claims.” “While potential suitors have expressed great praise for the technology, the company believes that the toxic atmosphere created by the defamation and the related litigation prevented any meaningful investment. The Chapter 11 proceeding presents an opportunity to separate the valuable technology from the collateral effects of the defamation and litigation. The company intends to market the technology and maximize its value,” according to the press release. Last October, a federal judge in Texas dismissed without prejudice a lawsuit Palmaz brought against a securities broker, Susan Harriman, finding that the case doesn’t belong in a federal court because both the defendant and plaintiff are from the Lone Star State, according to court documents. Judge Fred Biery of the U.S. District Court for Western Texas wrote that the suit should be re-filed in state court, but said “the parties would be well advised to resolve this matter before further expensive litigation, whether in federal or state court.” Palmaz Scientific raised $26.3 million from some 260 private investors in November 2013, but a hoped-for debt offering worth $15 million in the spring failed to bring in any outside backers despite the $2 million put down by members of the board. An outside investment firm also failed to gin up any interest, according to the shareholders letter.