Backed by institutional investors and seasoned industry leaders, cAMPfield Therapeutics is advancing a clinical program aimed at reshaping the landscape for inflammatory bowel disease.
CAMPfield Therapeutics is planting its flag at basecamp, setting out with $180 million to carry an in-licensed inflammatory bowel disease candidate into mid-stage testing.
The new series A cash will fuel cAMPfield’s lead candidate, an oral PDE4 inhibitor called prifemilast that was licensed from China biotech Newsoara Biopharma, according to a Thursday release. CAMPfield has clinched exclusive global development and commercialization rights to the asset outside of the Greater China area, though further financial details of the deal were not shared.
Earlier this year, Newsoara picked up the global rights to prifemilast—also known as HPP737—from vTv Therapeutics, an extension of an existing deal that’s valued at up to $135 million.
Now, cAMPfield is taking the baton. The San Diego biotech was created by Mountainfield Venture Partners, alongside several industry leaders, specifically to advance the PDE4 inhibitor.
The biotech’s founders include Asit Parikh, CEO of Moma Therapeutics and former head of Takeda’s gastroenterology unit, where he led development of Entyvio, now approved for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease—both of which are included under the IBD umbrella. The newly emerged biotech was also co-created by Keith Usiskin, former VP and head of gastroenterology at Celgene/Bristol Myers Squibb and development head of Otezla and Zeposia for IBD, and Mark Stenhouse, former COO of Prometheus Biosciences and past VP of U.S. sales and marketing at AbbVie.
The leaders are putting their faith behind prifemilast, believing that the program’s potential in efficacy, tolerability and convenience could create a new standard of care in IBD.
The candidate has been studied in more than 700 clinical trial participants thus far, demonstrating a tolerable profile, with treatment discontinuation rates comparable to that of placebo, according to cAMPfield. Prifemilast selectively inhibits PDE4B—the subtype most strongly tied to anti-inflammatory activity—compared to PDE4D, which is thought to contribute to dose-limiting adverse effects, the biotech said.
The candidate also demonstrated efficacy in a Newsoara-run Phase 3 trial for plaque psoriasis, an immune-mediated inflammatory disease that carries overlapping characteristics with IBD, according to cAMPfield. The Chinese biotech is currently conducting a second late-stage study designed to support a potential new drug application.
The next steps for cAMPfield include launching a global Phase 2b trial with prifemilast in moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis and a global Phase 2 study for Crohn’s disease.
The mission has received support from institutional investors, with Frazier Life Sciences leading the $180 million round and Deep Track Capital, Forbion, Abingworth, Venrock, Longitude Capital, Novo Holdings and RA Capital joining in.
“Despite the availability of more than a dozen approved therapies for IBD, most patients fail to achieve deep and durable remission, while others discontinue or switch treatments because of limitations in safety or long-term effectiveness,” Bill Gerhart, cAMPfield CEO and senior adviser at Mountainfield, said in a prepared statement. “Supported by the clinical validation of PDE4 inhibition, the best-in-class potential of prifemilast, and our team’s deep experience in IBD drug development, we aim to establish prifemilast as the treatment of choice for patients and physicians seeking robust disease control with a convenient once-daily, well-tolerated oral therapy.”
