Pharma, Startups

Angels put $3.6M behind linker platform for antibody-drug conjugates for cancer

A cancer drug startup that says it can solve some of the manufacturing and efficacy […]

A cancer drug startup that says it can solve some of the manufacturing and efficacy challenges with current monoclonal antibody-based therapies has found some investors who agree.

Meditope Biosciences rounded up $3.6 million from investors as part of a Series A that will support continued development of its monoclonal antibody-drug linker platform.

Monoclonal antibodies, which have unique targeting capabilities, are linked (via linker technology like Meditope’s) to a biologically active anticancer drug to create antibody-drug conjugates that attack specific cancer cells and avoid healthy cells.

The past two decades have seen mAb-based therapies become one of the most promising therapeutic strategies for various cancers, propelled by market adoption of FDA-approved drugs like Yervoy and Rituxan. About 30 antibody-drug conjugates are in trials now, according to Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.

Meditope describes its platform as one that can turn a mAb into a Lego-like system that can attach a drug to a specific antibody without chemical conjugation. It allows for efficacy and manufacturing advantages compared to existing antibody-drug conjugate technologies, like less complexity, increasing yields and lower costs, Meditope says.

With the funding, the company also brought on Elisabeth Gardiner, a former associate director of high-throughput screening at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, as chief scientific officer.

Meditope was founded in 2011 based on technology developed at City of Hope Cancer Center just outside of Los Angeles.

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