San Diego biotech Aspyrian Therapeutics just raised $40 million, according to a regulatory filing, to pursue a fascinating new way to activate the immune system to kill cancer: Photoimmunotherapy.
Photoimmunotherapy uses lasers to activate monoclonal antibodies that, in turn, spur immune cells to attack cancer cells in a localized area. Invented at the National Cancer Institute by lauded researcher Hisataka Kobayashi, this form of precision therapy is meant to keep damage to healthy cells at an absolute minimum.
This $40 million round comes from just two investors – and one looks to be Japanese billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, who is listed on the SEC filing. Mikitani is owner of Japan’s largest online retailer, Rakuten, and according to tech news site Vator News, led the round with his private companies.
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MedCity News has contacted Aspyrian Therapeutics, and is awaiting more information on how the company plans to use the funding – and who invested. The company raised about $12.7 million last year, according to regulatory filings.
Photoimmunotherapy conjugates monoclonal antibodies to photoactivatable molecules, so that when the cancerous area is exposed to a preset light frequency, it’ll begin to work.
The company’s lead compound, RM-1929, binds the dye IR700 with the FDA-approved antibody Erbitux (cetuximab). Notably, the branded drug is owned by Eli Lilly, but it went off-patent just last month. Traditionally, cetuximab is used to treat colorectal cancer, but is being repurposed by Aspyrion to treat head and neck cancer. The dye attaches only to cells that express the EGFR antigen, which are largely cancerous.
Aspyrion is recruiting participants into a phase 1 study of RM-1929 to treat patients with recurrent head and neck cancer. It’s seeking those whose cancer can’t satisfactorily be treated with surgery, radiation or platinum chemotherapy. The study launched last June, and is estimated to be complete in September this year.
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The study is in two parts – a drug dose escalation study, which keeps the light therapy portion of the treatment fixed so as to determine the appropriate dose to saturate the epidermal growth factor receptor at the tumor. The second part is a light dose escalation study, in which the drug dosing is fixed, so the optimal light quantity can be determined.
Aspyrian Therapeutics is exploring photoimmunotherapy’s use in other cancers as well – including head and neck, esophageal, lung, brain, pancreatic, colorectal, breast and ovarian.