- RA Capital Management makes $35 million investment to further develop CellCentric’s oral p300/CBP inhibitor inobrodib ahead of Phase III trials
- Laura Stoppel, Principal at RA Capital Management, to join CellCentric’s board
- American Cancer Society’s impact investment and innovation arm BrightEdge makes additional investment to support unmet need in multiple myeloma treatment
- Total round over $60m, as previous $25 million loan note from Pfizer converts to equity; Irena Melnikova, Partner at Pfizer Ventures also joins the Board
Cambridge, UK, July 24th, 2024 – CellCentric, a clinical stage biotechnology company, today announces that it has secured a $35 million investment from RA Capital Management. The funding will support the continued development of CellCentric’s oral drug inobrodib, a first-in-class p300/CBP inhibitor, to treat multiple myeloma.
Alongside the conversion of a loan note from Pfizer made last year, the American Cancer Society’s impact investment and innovation arm, BrightEdge, has made an additional investment in CellCentric. The decision re-affirms BrightEdge’s belief that improved patient outcomes and health equity can be achieved through novel treatments that address quality of life and provide broader access. The investments will be used to complete clinical testing in alignment with FDA requirements prior to Phase III trials.
Multiple myeloma remains a difficult to treat disease, with 75% of people diagnosed still dying of the condition after existing treatments. While cell and antibody-based therapies have brought great progress for patients, they can be physically taxing and complex to administer. There is a growing need for complementary treatments, suitable for administration in community settings.
Clinical trial data have shown that inobrodib has a manageable safety profile and promising efficacy. The novel treatment has the potential to become a new standard of care for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) patients as an all-oral therapy (inobrodib-pomalidomide-dexamethasone). Given inobrodib’s favourable tolerability, the intent would then be to position earlier line in combination with other more recent therapies.
Laura Stoppel, Principal at RA Capital Management, who joins CellCentric’s Board, said: “We are thrilled to support CellCentric as it heads towards registration studies. The progress in multiple myeloma treatment is undeniable but the reality is stark, many patients still face relapse and die from the disease. Inobrodib’s mechanism of action holds new promise of extending and improving the lives of a broader patient population.”
Alice Pomponio, vice president of innovation and impact investing and managing director of BrightEdge, said: “It’s vital that we support the development of novel drugs like inobrodib that are intended to address unmet need and inequities in care. We are delighted to be a part of the program’s continued advancement and look forward to seeing the improvements in patient outcomes with the potential to have a real-world impact.”
Will West, CEO of CellCentric, added: “These investments are testament to the quality of the data generated to date. There is a pressing need for easy-to-administer therapies to complement other available therapeutic options. We must serve the widest possible communities of patients, and as an oral, well tolerated drug that can be taken at home, inobrodib has an important role to play.”
About inobrodib
Inobrodib is a new type of treatment for people with cancer. Delivered as an oral capsule, it is easy for patients to take and can be used at home without the need for intensive monitoring. As it has a good safety profile for a drug in this setting, it may be used by those who are unable to access or tolerate other types of treatment. It has the potential to present a lower overall burden on the healthcare system as compared to more complex agents.
About CellCentric
CellCentric is an innovative UK-based biotechnology company with offices in Cambridge and Manchester. The company was spun out from the University of Cambridge, by pioneering developmental biologist Professor Azim Surani FRS, CBE, who wanted to further explore the potential of targeting cell fate control mechanisms. From its origins, CellCentric built a network of research and evaluation relationships with over 25 leading academic research groups worldwide.
CellCentric’s research evolved to focus on twin transcription co-activation factors, p300 and CBP, that drive the expression of genes important in cancer progression. The company actively pursued multiple cell fate control-related drug discovery programmes before focusing on p300/CBP inhibition and inobrodib.
About RA Capital Management, LP
RA Capital Management is a multi-stage investment manager dedicated to company formation and evidence-based investing in healthcare and life science companies developing drugs, medical devices, diagnostics, services, and research tools. The firm’s portfolio of private and public companies spans the globe and most therapeutic areas across all stages from discovery through commercialization.