Geneos expands its Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial
in lead indication for treating patients with advanced
hepatocellular carcinoma
Financing led by Flerie Invest and Dr.
Ted Fjällman joins Geneos' Board of Directors
PLYMOUTH
MEETING, Pa., March 24,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Geneos Therapeutics, a clinical
stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development of tumor
neoantigen targeted personalized immunotherapies, announced today
that it has secured $17 million in
Series A2 financing. The financing was led by Flerie Invest with
participation from all existing Series A investors including Santé
Ventures, Korea Investment Partners (KIP) – Global Bio Fund, and
INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: INO). In conjunction with the
financing, Dr. Ted Fjällman, Partner, Flerie Invest joined Geneos'
Board of Directors.
"Geneos' personalized immunotherapy shows compelling clinical
data in liver cancer patients and the approach is well
differentiated from the competition," commented Dr Fjällman.
"Flerie is delighted to work with the team and a great set of
investors to accelerate the clinical development of this innovative
platform technology."
The proceeds will be used for the expansion of the company's
GT-30 Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial. GT-30 evaluates Geneos'
personalized cancer vaccine, GNOS-PV02, for treating patients with
advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a type of liver cancer.
GNOS-PV02, is a tumor-specific DNA plasmid-based product designed
and manufactured for each patient based on their unique tumor
mutations (neoantigens), identified by sequencing each patient's
tumor. In the trial, GNOS-PV02 is combined with a DNA encoded
cytokine IL-12 (INO-9012) and PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor
(pembrolizumab). Geneos will increase the number of patients
treated from 24 to 36 patients. Additionally, the proceeds will
fund pipeline expansion into a new indication, and continued
company operations.
"We are excited to welcome Ted to the Board of Directors and
Flerie Invest into our investor syndicate. We look forward to
tapping into Flerie Invest's network in Europe and their expertise to gain access to
patients as we advance our potentially transformative personalized
cancer therapies," said Dr. Niranjan Y.
Sardesai, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Geneos
Therapeutics. "The Series A2 financing will enable us to
expand the current pipeline by leveraging the versatility of our
GT-EPIC™ platform and capitalize on its initial differentiated
success in this difficult to treat type of liver cancer. We
previously reported tumor reduction in over half of the patients
and three partial responses by RECIST 1.1 in the first 12 patients
treated and continue to see a similar trend in the next 12
patients. We look forward to showcasing durability of response data
and reporting key milestone efficacy data from 24 patients in
2022."
For more information about the company and its leadership team,
visit www.geneostx.com
About Geneos Therapeutics
At Geneos Therapeutics, we believe that personalized therapies
are the future of cancer treatment. Our passion is to develop
personalized therapies to unleash the most powerful force against
cancer – patients' own immune system. Our approach using our
GT-EPIC™ platform is to target unique neoantigens (abnormal
mutations produced by cancer cells) from individual patient tumors
to develop novel and personalized treatments for cancer. We have an
experienced management team with a track record of success in
building immunotherapy-based companies.
About Liver Cancer
Globally, liver cancers are the fourth most common cause of
cancer-related death and ranked sixth in terms of annual incidence.
The rate of death from liver cancer in the U.S. has increased 43%
from 2000 to 2016 and with a 5-year survival rate of 18% for
advanced liver cancer, it is the second most deadly tumor behind
pancreatic. HCC accounts for the majority of primary liver
cancers.
About GT-EPIC™ Platform:
Geneos Therapeutics' proprietary GT-EPIC™ Neoantigen-Targeting
Platform is based on the design and delivery of highly optimized
synthetic DNA plasmids and their combinations for cancer
immunotherapy. The GT-EPIC™ platform allows Geneos to develop
exquisitely personalized therapies tailored to each patient's
unique tumor mutations. The platform is developed to deliver the
following key advantages: Ability to drive potent and broad T cell
immune responses, capability to target an unprecedented number of
neoantigens in a single formulation, and a rapid manufacturing
turnaround time. Geneos believes that these are three key
differentiators that will drive the company, and the oncology
space, into the next generation of personalized
immunotherapies.
About Flerie Invest:
Flerie Invest is a European biotech and pharma investor managing
a portfolio of more than 20 companies in the US, UK, Sweden and other countries. The portfolio
companies are engaged in a wide range of areas including
immuno-oncology, metabolic diseases and biologics development and
manufacturing. The present investment focus is on drug development
and tools for drug development. The company was founded in 2010 by
Thomas Eldered, who also co-founded
and built Recipharm to be one of the top five pharmaceutical
contract manufacturers globally. Flerie Invest is based in
Stockholm and London.
This press release contains certain forward-looking
statements relating to our business, including our plans regarding
the development of tumor neoantigen targeted personalized
immunotherapies for cancer, our expectations regarding our research
and development programs, including the planned expansion and
conduct of clinical trials and the availability and timing of data
from those trials, and the use of our capital resources. Actual
events or results may differ from the expectations set forth
herein. There can be no assurance that any product candidate in
Geneos' pipeline will be successfully developed, manufactured or
commercialized, that final results of clinical trials will be
supportive of regulatory approvals required to market licensed
products, or that any of the forward-looking information provided
herein will be proven accurate. Forward-looking statements speak
only as of the date of this release, and Geneos undertakes no
obligation to update or revise these statements, except as may be
required by law.
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SOURCE Geneos Therapeutics, Inc.