On October 21, 2014 Unum Therapeutics reported that it has raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Fidelity Biosciences and Atlas Venture, with participation from Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures (Press release Unum Therapeutics, OCT 21, 2014, View Source!21oct2014-unum-series-a-funding/cu46 [SID:1234500856]). Unum has built a platform for cancer treatment based upon an antibody-coupled T-cell receptor (ACTR). Genetically programming T-cells with ACTR allows them to efficiently attack and kill tumor cells using targeting antibodies. In contrast to other approaches that are limited to a single target and treat a narrow set of tumors, Unum’s approach is not restricted by antigen and may have applications for treating many types of cancers. Unum plans to use capital raised through this financing to advance its lead candidate through initial proof-of-concept clinical studies, further enhance the ACTR technology, and establish partnerships to access tumor-specific antibodies for a pipeline of novel combination therapies.
Industry veteran Charles "Chuck" Wilson, PhD, will serve as President & CEO. Before founding Unum, Dr. Wilson led the team responsible for partnering to support research and early development at Novartis. With many oncology and immuno-oncology deals to his credit, he brings extensive experience to Unum spanning from early drug discovery through Phase II clinical development. Prior to Novartis, Dr. Wilson held both scientific and business management roles in biotech.
"We’ve created Unum to rapidly develop this universal cell therapy platform and to explore its potential in a number of different cancer types," said Dr. Wilson. "With our Series A funding from Fidelity Biosciences, Atlas Venture, and Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures, we will drive our lead program into Phase I testing and aim to quickly validate the ACTR approach in the clinic."
Dario Campana, MD, PhD, is the company’s Scientific Founder. Dr. Campana is an established leader in the field of cancer cell therapies. At the National University of Singapore (NUS), he developed the ACTR technology that forms the basis for Unum. At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (Memphis, TN), he created a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) approach that is currently being pursued by several pharma and biotech companies. He currently oversees a number of cell therapy clinical trials in oncology.
In addition to Drs. Wilson and Campana, Unum Therapeutics’ management team also includes Chief Scientific Officer Seth Ettenberg, PhD, a cancer biologist and drug development scientist with extensive experience leading teams in biotechnology and large pharmaceutical drug discovery settings. Dr. Ettenberg most recently served as the Cambridge site head for Novartis Oncology Biotherapeutics.
The initial Board of Directors for Unum Therapeutics is comprised of:
Chuck Wilson, PhD, President & CEO, Unum Therapeutics
Ben Auspitz, Partner, Fidelity Biosciences
Bruce Booth, DPhil, Partner, Atlas Venture
"Unum combines a strong, experienced management team, a transformational technology that may revolutionize cancer treatment, and top scientific and business development talent," said Mr. Auspitz. "It has the right combination of resources to carry out its vision of bringing to market a single therapy that can augment the activity of many different antibodies to treat many different cancers."
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