Dive Brief:
- Biotechnology startup Zenas BioPharma on Tuesday said it has raised $200 million to support testing of a dual-targeting antibody drug it’s developing for inflammatory diseases.
- The Series C round will finance trials of a drug called obexelimab that Zenas acquired from antibody maker Xencor two-and-a-half years ago. A late-stage test is underway in an inflammatory condition known as IgG4-related disease. Two Phase 2 trials will now follow in multiple sclerosis and a common form of lupus, the company announced, joining an ongoing trial in a rare type of anemia.
- Zenas is led by Lonnie Moulder, the former head of a cancer biotech, Tesaro, that GSK acquired in 2018. The company has two other drugs in clinical testing that are partnered with other biotechs. Zenas also has an alliance with Bristol Myers Squibb, which invested in the company and acquired partial rights to obexelimab last year.
Dive Insight:
Over the last few years, there’s been growing momentum behind a new idea for treating autoimmune diseases.
People with inflammatory disorders like lupus and MS typically receive chronic treatment to suppress the damaging immune responses that are associated with their condition. Recent academic research, though, has suggested cellular medicines that eliminate malfunctioning B cells may have powerful, longer-lasting effects.
For example, a paper published in The New England Journal of Medicine earlier this year found that 15 people with tough-to-treat forms of lupus, inflammatory myositis or systemic sclerosis went into remission after a single infusion of CAR-T therapy. Though from a small study, the findings sparked investment by large and small drugmakers into new tests of cell therapies in autoimmune disease. More than a dozen are in clinical testing or soon will be.
Developers of bispecific antibodies — protein drugs that latch onto two different targets — are now following suit. Several bispecific antibodies are approved to treat blood cancers, for which they’re viewed as more convenient, cheaper and potentially safer alternatives to cell therapy. Proponents of these drugs have a similar pitch in autoimmune conditions, as there is less leeway for the sometimes severe side effects associated with CAR-T treatments in cancer.
Early evidence supporting their potential in autoimmune disease emerged last month, when a case study published in the European Journal of Cancer described encouraging results in a systemic sclerosis patient who’d received Amgen’s Blincyto.
Zenas is now among those testing whether that finding can be replicated in a larger study in other autoimmune conditions. The company’s drug obexelimab is designed to deplete B cells by homing in on the proteins CD19 and FcγRIIb. Defective B cells are implicated in MS and lupus, although obexelimab failed a Phase 2 trial in lupus in 2018.
The funding “enables us to complete multiple potentially value driving clinical programs,” Zenas CEO Moulder said in a statement.
SR One, NEA, Norwest Venture Partners and Delos Capital led the funding round.