Igenica Biotherapeutics – a biotech star-studded with execs that, in previous career incarnations brought a number of antibody drug conjugate drugs to market – just raised a modest round of funding to further develop its own ADCs.
The Bay Area startup brought in $5 million of a proposed $6.25 million round, according to a regulatory filing. This is its most recent fundraise since the $14 million it brought in a year ago as a Series C add-on. Historically, its investor base includes The Column Group, OrbiMed, 5AM Ventures and Third Rock Ventures.
Igenica is going solidly after the precision medicine space: It says it evaluates patient profile, tissue expression, tumor environment and antibody function to profile proteins found on tumor cell surfaces to identify potential ADC candidates. Its approach is to cast a wide net for potential ADCs to be used as cancer therapeutics, advancing several candidates concurrently at a rapid clip.
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The company’s lead ADC, called IGN 523, is in Phase 1 trials to test safety in treating acute myelogeneous leukemia. It’s also got programs underway meant to treat lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, other leukemias and solid tumor cancers.
Igenica says IGN-523 works the way many ADCs do: It induces antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, inhibits of the function of a cell surface protein that’s linked to many blood and solid tumor cancers called CD98, and also brings about apoptosis.