This means that Elicera is now entering an exciting phase in an area where several significant transactions have been made recently.
Elicera Therapeutics develops next-generation cell and gene therapies based on CAR T cells and oncolytic viruses. The company has four drug candidates in its research pipeline. Two of these are CAR T cells (ELC-301 and ELC-401), while the other two are oncolytic viruses (ELC-201 and ELC-100).
An important asset for the company is its platform technology, inTANK (immunotherapies Activated with NAP for efficient Killing). iTANK arms CAR T cells and works by activating a parallel immune response against cancer in conjunction with CAR T cell therapy. This technology is applied in the company's two CAR T cell-based candidates as well as in ELC-201.
On the way into the clinic with ELC-301
One of Elicera's most important priorities this year is to initiate a clinical phase I/IIa study with ELC-301. In January, the company submitted a clinical trial application for the study, and at the end of April, conditional approval was received from the Swedish Medical Products Agency. Elicera had anticipated that the approval would be conditional, as it is currently working to complete the supplements with the hope of starting the study in Q3 this year. The study, called CARMA, will evaluate ELC-301 in patients with refractory and/or metastatic B-cell lymphoma. This means that Elicera will have the opportunity to evaluate both one of its CAR T-cell candidates and the iTANK platform in the clinic for the first time, which thus constitutes a significant milestone. Watch an interview here with CEO Jamal el-Mosleh, who visited BioStock's studio to tell us more.
Conducting clinical studies is very costly. However, Elicera has already secured SEK 26 million from European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Fund and SEK 5 million from Vinnova in order, in combination with existing cash, to be able to drive the project to completion. The company expects the cash to finance the operation in its entirety by H2 2024.
Strengthened business development and organization
Another high priority for the company is business development – more specifically securing licensing agreements and various types of collaborations for iTANK. Elicera took an important step towards achieving this goal at the beginning of the year through the new partnership with the life science transaction advisory firm LifeSci ConsultingRead an interview with CEO Jamal el-Mosleh where he comments on the collaboration here.
The company has also strengthened the organization this year through the recruitment of Anna Koptina Guletkin as Head of Regulatory Affairs, which will help Elicera navigate various regulatory strategies and government programs to accelerate the registration process.
Growing interest in cell therapy from big pharma
With a strengthened organization, investments in business development and, not least, the upcoming CARMA study, a new phase awaits Elicera – which operates in an area that is attracting increasing interest. It has become clear in recent years that greater hopes are attached to cell therapy from several quarters. The form of treatment has been shown to have significant potential to improve the treatment of both cancer and autoimmune diseases. The technology has shown remarkable efficacy and achieved long-term remission in some patients. The treatment concept, which aims to improve the immune response against cancer cells or modulate the immune system to reduce autoimmunity, opens up the possibility of individually tailored, targeted treatments with maximized treatment effect. Read more here.
The potential of the technology is also reflected in the increased interest from major pharmaceutical companies. At the turn of the year, AstraZeneca cell therapy company Neogene Therapeutics in a deal worth up to a total of 320 million USD. The latest and most relevant evidence of the increased interest in cell therapy is the agreement between Janssen and Cellular Biomedicine Group worth 245 million USD, which concerns two CAR T-cell candidates similar to Eliceras. Read more here.