Epitopea unveils research collaboration with MSD
The alliance is designed to Identify Cryptigen™ Tumour-Specific Antigens in an undisclosed solid tumour.
The size of the upfront payment involved in the deal is not being disclosed and no comment has been forthcoming on how many products potentially form part of the target objective.
All we can say officially is that Epitopea is eligible for milestone payments with the potential to total up to $300 million per product.
Epitopea recently moved its Cambridge HQ to the Babraham Research Campus and is a transatlantic cancer immunotherapeutics company developing accessible, off-the-shelf RNA-based immunotherapies. MSD is the trade name of Merck & Co., Inc., based in New Jersey.
Cryptigen™ TSAs are shared, non-mutated, aberrantly expressed antigens derived from what were thought to be non-coding regions of the genome or ‘junk DNA’.
In the new deal, Epitopea will deploy its proprietary CryptoMap™ platform to identify and provide novel, immunogenic Cryptigen™ TSAs for a prespecified tumour type.
MSD will have the exclusive right to develop and commercialise therapeutics derived from the collaboration.
“Epitopea has been at the forefront of identifying CryptigenTM TSAs, whose intratumor shared nature across patients has made them ideal targets for the development of off-the-shelf immunotherapies,” said Alan C. Rigby, Epitopea’s CEO.
“At Epitopea we continue to accelerate the development of our preclinical pipeline as we transition to a clinical-stage company on the ‘heels’ of our recent, oversubscribed, pre-Series A financing.
“We believe that this strategic collaborative relationship with MSD, a leader in immunotherapy therapeutic development, provides us with an additional opportunity to validate the potential impact of these differentiated tumor specific antigens.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with MSD as our teams collectively look to impact the lives of patients with cancer by helping to improve outcomes.”
George Addona, senior vice president, discovery, preclinical development and translational medicine, Merck Research Laboratories, added: “Despite the remarkable progress made in cancer treatment over the past decade, more therapeutic options are needed.
“We continue to explore new ways to build upon our strong foundation in immuno-oncology and look forward to collaborating with the Epitopea team.”
Cambridge Innovation Capital has been a long-term investor. Partner Michael Anstey, commented: “Having supported the company since its formation, we are thrilled that Epitopea’s next-generation antigen discovery platform will be leveraged in this license and research collaboration agreement with MSD, a leading biopharmaceutical company in the immuno-oncology space.
“This partnership provides strong validation for Epitopea’s unique capabilities and the potential to help develop breakthrough immunotherapies for cancer patients with the highest unmet need.”
Epitopea is backed by a leading transatlantic life science investor syndicate that includes Advent Life Sciences, CTI Life Sciences, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Le Fonds de Solidarité FTQ, Investissement Québec, adMare BioInnovations, serial biotech entrepreneur Jonathan Milner, IRICoR, the Harrington Discovery Institute and Novateur Ventures.
Founded in 2021, to date the company has raised more than $45 million.