OncoPep, Inc., a Boston, MA-based developer of targeted immunotherapeutics to prevent the progression of cancer, prolong survival and restore the quality of life of patients, closed a $6.9m Series B financing.
Backers included angel groups, family foundations and individuals, as well as equity investment from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).
Led by Doris Peterkin, president and chief executive officer, OncoPep is advancing a cancer vaccine, PVX-410, which is designed to target tumor antigens associated with multiple myeloma (MM), a cancer of the plasma cells, and was granted orphan drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2013.
The company intends to use the funds for the clinical development of PVX-410, currently being studied in patients with smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM), an asymptomatic stage of MM. To date, 12 patients have been treated with vaccine alone in the ongoing Phase 1/2a clinical trial of PVX-410, and the trial has been expanded to include a second treatment arm adding concurrent courses of lenalidomide.
Lenalidomide, which is commercially available for the treatment of MM, is an immunomodulatory agent that may complement the mechanism of action of PVX-410. It has demonstrated clinical benefit when combined with dexamethasone in a Phase 3 clinical study treating patients with SMM.
FinSMEs
28/08/2014