AMC303 targets tumor-specific co-receptor CD44v6 to inhibitor multiple TRK pathways
Cancer therapeutics firm amcure raised €6 million ($6.38 million) in a Series B financing round with existing investors and shareholders. The firm will use the funds to progress clinical development of its lead peptide candidate, AMC303, which is in early clinical development for treating metastasized solid tumors. A Phase I/Ib trial with AMC303 was initiated in October. AMC303 targets the tumour-specific co-receptor CD44v6, which amcure claims blocks three receptor-tyrosine-kinase pathways—VEGF/VEGF-R2, HGF/c-Met, and MSP/RON—and inhibits tumor growth and metastasis. The firm says that the treatment could offer a novel, highly specific approach to treating multiple advanced metastatic tumor types, including pancreatic , head and neck, gastric, colorectal, breast, and lung cancers.
“amcure has made significant progress towards bringing a new and potentially ground-breaking treatment option to patients with cancer metastasis, therefore we are enthusiastic about renewing and expanding our investment into the firm,” stated Dr. rer. nat. Harald Poth, senior investment manager at LBBW Venture Capital, which led the Series B fundraising.
Coinciding with the report of its Series B financing, amcure also announced the appointment of Bruno Osterwalder, M.D., to its advisory board. With 15 years of academic and clinical practice in internal medicine, hematology and oncology, Dr. Osterwalder also spent 26 years within global drug development and strategic portfolio management in oncology and immuno-oncology at Roche and Merck Serono.
Established in 2012, German biotech amcure is a spin-out from the Karsruhe Institute of Technology. The firm has to date raised €11 million ($11.71 million) in investor funding. Development of AMC303 has also been supported by a €1.9 million ($2.02 million) grant by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), awarded in December 2015.
