On July 24, 2023 Crescendo Biologics Ltd (Crescendo), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing novel, targeted T cell enhancing therapeutics, reported that it plans to augment the ongoing Phase 1b clinical trial of CB307 through the addition of a new pembrolizumab (anti-PD-1) combination expansion cohort (Press release, Crescendo Biologics, JUL 24, 2023, View Source [SID1234633399]). Additional financing of $32 million has been secured with the support of all major existing shareholders, including Sofinnova Partners, Andera Partners, IP Group BioNTech, Takeda and Quan Capital, and new investor Kreos Capital to fund the additional combination expansion arm of the adaptive clinical protocol.
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CB307, Crescendo’s lead proprietary programme, is now entering the cohort expansion part of the ongoing Phase 1b clinical trial. The monotherapy expansion cohort is already underway in individuals with PSMA+ metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in a last-line setting. The additional pembrolizumab combination expansion cohort is expected to be initiated in Q3 2023 and will be open to those with PSMA+ mCRPC.
"We are delighted to have secured this additional financing which will enable us to accelerate the clinical development of CB307," commented Theodora Harold, CEO at Crescendo Biologics. "Preclinical data generated by Crescendo, such as those recently presented at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) in Orlando, as well as clinical data presented by others earlier this year, illustrate the profound effect that adding PD-1 antagonism can have to the co-stimulation of T cells, including via CD137 agonism. We are very excited to further investigate the activity of the combination of CB307 plus pembrolizumab in our clinical study and would like to thank everyone involved in the trial and our existing investors for their ongoing support as well as the team at Kreos Capital for joining us and sharing our vision."
Sonia Benhamida, Principal at Kreos Capital commented, "We have been very impressed with the Crescendo team, and the power and potential of the Humabody VH platform is evident across their proprietary and partnered programmes. Our investment model is ideally suited to Crescendo’s needs at this time, and we are pleased to partner with the Crescendo management team and to enable the acceleration and execution of the expanded clinical plan for CB307."