Crescendo Biologics secures $32m to augment CB307 clinical trial
Crescendo Biologics has secured “additional funding” of $32m as it plans to augment the ongoing Phase 1b clinical trial of CB307, its lead proprietary programme.
Based at the Meditrina Building on Babraham Research Campus, Crescendo Biologics is a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing novel, targeted T cell-enhancing Humabody VH therapeutics.
Humabody VHs are the smallest part of an antibody capable of specific antigen binding, about a tenth the size of a standard antibody. Crescendo Biologics is poised to significantly impact the world of antibody therapeutics with the enormous potential of its Humabody technology and its product-discovery and engineering capabilities.
The company’s ability to develop multi-functional Humabody therapeutics is based on its unique, patent protected, transgenic mouse platform generating fully human VH domain building blocks (Humabody VH). These robust molecules can be configured to engage therapeutic targets in such a way that they deliver novel pharmacology and superior bio-distribution. This can lead to larger therapeutic windows compared to conventional IgG approaches. Humabody-based formats can also be applied across a range of non-cancer indications.
Since being founded in 2007, Crescendo has positioned itself as the successor of Cambridge Antibody Technology, the company co-founded by Mike Romanos (currently CEO of Microbiotica) and sold to AstraZeneca in 2006 in a $1.3bn deal.
The new $32m incoming investment 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.
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 under way in individuals with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer 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,” said Theodora Harold, CEO at Crescendo Biologics. “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.”
