23rd March 2023: The preclinical and early-stage cancer cell therapies being developed by Shanghai biotech Oricell have received an additional $45 million in funding, the company announced on Tuesday.
Following a showing at ASCO last year with a GPRC5D-directed CAR-T therapy for multiple myeloma, Oricell raised a $120 million Series B in July. New investors Qiming Venture Partners and C&D Emerging Industry Equity Investment followed by existing investors RTW Investments and Qatar Investment Authority led the latest raise, which is an expansion of that round.
The biotech firm stated that newly acquired funds would be used primarily for clinical research in the US.
Oricell is working on a number of CAR-T therapies and solid tumour antibody candidates. A group of patients with treatment-resistant multiple myeloma responded to Oricell’s GPRC5D-directed CAR-T with a 100% overall response rate and 60% stringent complete response in the Phase I trial that was presented at ASCO.
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In particular, Oricell highlighted a group of five patients who had already received BCMA CAR-T therapy. According to the company, one partial response, two “very good partial responses,” and two stringent complete responses were all received. And with a median follow-up ranging from 35 to 281 days, all were progression-free at the cutoff date at ASCO.
According to Oricell, which is currently in the IND-enabling stage, it hopes to extend the trial for its GPRC5D-directed CAR-T therapy to the US.
In addition, Oricell has a GPC3-directed CAR-T cell therapy called Ori-C101, which it’s studying in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
CAR T-Cell therapy is among the breakthrough treatment for certain types of blood cancers. There are more than 750 ongoing clinical trials in CAR T-Cell therapy in China at present. Patients who wish to enroll can contact CancerFax patient helpline on WhatsApp +91 96 1588 1588 or email to info@cancerfax.com.
