Funds to progress Phase I development of oncology product BIL-03s
Cambridge, UK, 9th July 2014. Biosceptre International Limited, the oncology company developing antibody products that target the nf-P2X7 receptor, today announced that it has raised AUD5m through a syndicate of existing investors. The funds raised will enable the Company to progress the lead systemic programme, BIL-03s through Phase I development.
This latest investment will start a 20 patient, multicentre, safety and efficacy, dose-escalation, Phase I study of BIL-03s. The primary endpoint of the study will be safety, however Biosceptre expects to also obtain preliminary data on pharmacokinetics and efficacy. The Company plans to start the trial in Q4 2014.
BIL-03s is a fully human monoclonal antibody that targets nf-P2X7, a non-functional form of P2X7, (a transmembrane ion channel receptor expressed on cell surfaces of many tumours). Targeting nf-P2X7 has the potential to treat a wide range of cancers.
“This latest financing shows the ongoing support Biosceptre has from its highly committed investors. The funds are central to the development of BIL-03s, a key asset in our internal product development portfolio,” said Gavin Currie, CEO of Biosceptre. “The Company strategy is to focus on the development of an internal pipeline of both topical and systemic antibody products in the therapeutics space. Concurrently, we have an external pipeline of cancer vaccines in development, through a series of collaborations. We are also seeking out-licensing agreements to develop cancer diagnostics and imaging technologies that take advantage of our proprietary position with nf-P2X7.”
Media contact:
Daniel Barton
Biosceptre
media@biosceptre.com
+61 412 548 824
+1 650 249 4977