Checkmate Comes Out of Stealth Mode With $20 Million and Ex-Sarepta Exec as Its Leader
August 12, 2015
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Cambridge, Mass.-based Checkmate Pharmaceuticals announced today that it has closed on a $20 million Series A finance round from Sofinnova Ventures and venBio. Checkmate also indicated it had licensed a clinically validated virus-like particle (VLP) platform from Cytos Biotechnology Ltd.
In 2012, venBio invested in Zurich, Switzerland-based Cytos Biotechnology with several other investors for a total of $40 million in equity and debt. Additional investors included Amgen , Abingworth and Aisling Capital. The money was to be used to recapitalize Cytos and allow the company to continue with Phase IIb clinical trials of CYT003 for allergic asthma.
However, in 2014 Cytos announced that the Phase IIb trial of CYT003 did not result in a statistically significant reduction of the Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) score, the study’s topline endpoint. At that point the company was leaning toward liquidation and possible bankruptcy.
Having acquired CYT003, Checkmate’s chief executive officer, Art Krieg, believes that the drug stimulates a toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) target that can spark the body’s immune system, specifically killer T cells, to attack cancer cells.
Checkpoint’s stated aim is to combine the use of CYT003 with antibody drugs known as “checkpoint inhibitors,” to fight cancer cells. Some tumors have molecules that work to actively shut down the body’s immune system, so-called “checkpoints.” Checkpoint inhibitors prevent the tumor molecules from working, letting the immune cells do their work. A combination of TLR9 and a checkpoint inhibitor is similar to taking the brake off while simultaneously pushing the gas pedal on the immune system.
Other companies working in this area include Dynavax Technologies Corporation and Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , which have developed TLR9-activating drugs. Dynavax is working with a checkpoint inhibitor developed by Merck & Co. , and Idera has partnered with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Krieg joined Checkmate in December 2014 after a shakeup at Cambridge, Mass.-based Sarepta Therapeutics , where he was chief scientific officer. Krieg was only with Sarepta for six months. Prior to Sarepta, Krieg was founder of RaNA Therapeutics, Inc., and acted as chief executive officer starting in 2011. Before that, from 2008 to 2011, he was chief scientific officer of Pfizer Inc. ’s oligonucleotide therapeutics unit.
Until recently, Checkmate was operating in “stealth mode.” The Series A round and the acquisition of CYT003 will let Checkpoint move quickly into oncology clinical development and potentially develop more oligonucleotide-based products with immuno-oncology applications.
“We are excited about securing the funding to develop CYT003 in the field of oncology and to advance our growing pipeline of products,” said Krieg in a statement. “Our data indicate that CYT003 and the VLP technology platform will enhance the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-PDP-1 and anti-PD-L1 antibodies, addressing a critical unmet therapeutic need in immuno-oncology and providing a better set of treatment options for patients with cancer.”
Immuno-oncology and anti-PD-L1 drugs are a hot area for biotech at the moment. Genentech has been working with a drug atezolizumab in this category and Amgen (AMGN) is collaborating with Roche to evaluate talimogene laherparepvec combined with atezolizumab for triple-negative breast cancer and colorectal cancer with liver metastases. Merck is also working with Amgen on talimogene with Keytruda (pembrolizumab), Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapeutic.