Founded in 2004 by pioneering developmental biologist Professor Azim Surani as a spin-out from the University of Cambridge, the Chesterford Research Park-based biotechnology company has also been supported by the conversion of a $25m loan note from Pfizer made last year, plus $700,000 from BrightEdge, the American Cancer Society’s impact investment and innovation arm. The three invesments total more than $60m.

And amid the flurry of activity, two new members – Laura Stoppel, principal at RA Capital Management, and Irena Melnikova, partner at Pfizer Ventures – have been welcomed to the board.

CellCentric, which has premises at Manchester’s Alderley Park as well as on Chesterford Research Park, will support the continued development of inobrodib, a first-in-class p300/CBP inhibitor, to treat multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma remains a difficult-to-treat disease, with 75 per cent 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 has 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”.

Will West, chairman and CEO of CellCentric, said: “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.”

Speaking to the Cambridge Independent half an hour before he left town to get on an aeroplane to Boston, Massachusetts, Dr West said: “It’s a super-exciting time. We’re finishing Phase II of the clinical trials for inobrodib, which involved 300 patients – that’s all been done at Alderley Park.

“The new investment will see us through to full Phase III readiness. We want to move as quick as possible, we have clear efficacy signals and other strong responses – there will be more announcements in December.

“We’re a biotech company, our widest market is the West, and the primary market is the US. The initial target market for inobrodib is likely to be America, and we have investors in Boston – and our first US base will be in Boston.”

He added of inobrodib: “The drug has been very promising.”

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. Inobrodib’s mechanism of action holds new promise of extending and improving the lives of a broader patient population.”

Alice Pomponio, managing director of BrightEdge, said: “We are delighted to be a part of the programme’s continued advancement and look forward to seeing the improvements in patient outcomes with the potential to have a real-world impact.”

Article source: www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk
Published: 01.08.24