A new contender is emerging in the glioblastoma space: Cambridge startup Aurora Biopharma is developing a CAR-T immunotherapy to treat this aggressive form of brain cancer. It’s looking to raise a $20 million Series A round, CEO Robert Brooks said in an interview at this week’s BIO CEO & Investor conference in New York.
Glioblastoma is a devastating form of brain cancer that affects about 12,000 people per year in the U.S. alone – and people who are diagnosed survive under 15 months on average. Immunotherapy, however, is proving promising in changing the paradigm for the disease.
Aurora’s CAR-T play here is pretty bold: There’s a common notion that this form of immunotherapy doesn’t work in solid tumors, or is unsafe for patients. Aurora recently conducted a 16-patient trial for glioblastoma using its CAR-T, which Brooks presented at BIO CEO. According to Brooks, the drug was well tolerated, with no cytokine release syndrome as reported by other CAR-T companies – and strong signs of tumor killing efficacy. The results show significantly improved survival benefits among the small cohort, Brooks said.
Behavioral Health, Interoperability and eConsent: Meeting the Demands of CMS Final Rule Compliance
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“We believe in having multiple antigens, not just one,” Brooks said. “We’re involved in bispecific and trispecific antigens.”
So far, Aurora been operating largely on some $15 million in grant funding, from the NIH and various charities. It plans on using the forthcoming Series A to help fund a larger, multisite phase 2B trial now for glioblastoma – applying for FDA breakthrough and orphan status for the disease.
Late last year, Boston immunotherapy player Celldex released mature survival data from its phase 2 data on its cancer vaccine, Rintega, in treating a specific form of glioblastoma. And it’s showing unprecedented survival benefits – and, importantly, improving the quality of patient lives.
“Celldex got breakthrough status, so I think we have a good shot at getting it as well,” Brooks said.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
The competitive landscape in the glioblastoma space is swelling, and for good reason – immunotherapy is starting to show real promise in treating this form of brain cancer. A January report from GlobalData projects that the glioblastoma market will expand fivefold by 2024 – from $659 million in 2014 to $3.3 billion. A prime contender will be Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Opdivo, though there’s promising work from a number of startups around the country.
Another competitor in the glioblastoma space is San Diego-based Tocagen, which is developing a retroviral replicating vector (RRV) gene transfer platform. Arizona startup Nuvox is also developing a therapy for glioblastoma, and recently received FDA orphan designation for its “radiation sensitizer” platform.
In addition to glioblastoma, Aurora is planning mid-stage Phase 2 human trials with its CAR-T therapy for osteosarcoma and metastatic breast cancer. Th company is also planning a Phase 2 trial for small cell lung small cell lung cancer and osteosarcoma using its P53 DC cancer vaccine.
“The lung cancer trial is planned be in combination with an anti-PD1 provided from a major drug company,” Brooks said, though he didn’t disclose which.
