US-based cancer therapy developers Cullinan Oncology and PDI Therapeutics have launched a new company called Cullinan Mica with $26m from a series A round that included Cullinan Oncology itself.
Cullinan Oncology was joined by Avalon Ventures, the venture capital firm that formed PDI in 2015 in partnership with pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline, as well as Bregua Corporation, and Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation’s Myeloma Investment Fund.
The companies founded Cullinan Mica in order to focus on CLN-619, a monoclonal antibody initially developed by PDI that the companies believe has the potential to be used against a variety of cancer forms including solid tumours and myeloma.
CLN-619 will function by preventing cancer cells from shaving off the Mica ligand that would enable NKG2D receptors in the body’s natural killer cells and killer T cells to recognise and destroy them. Cullinan Mica intends to begin formal clinical development of the candidate soon.
Neil Gibson, PDI’s president and chief executive, said: “We are pleased to partner with the Cullinan team and are excited to advance this highly innovative immuno-oncology mechanism into phase 1 development.
“An agent capable of boosting both the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system could represent a new breakthrough in our fight against cancer.”
