Elicera Therapeutics specializes in the development of cell and gene therapies for cancer treatment. The company is working to develop CAR T-cell therapies and oncolytic viruses, with the goal of improving and prolonging the lives of patients with severe cancers. Elicera also uses its proprietary and commercially available platform, iTANK, to increase the efficiency and precision of their therapies.
International presence
In 2024, Elicera achieved many important milestones. The year began with a successful capital raising that strengthened the coffers by SEK 27,6 million. In order to highlight its drug candidates and establish important contacts, Elicera has also participated in several international events during the year. Among other things, the company was invited to present at one of the world's largest conferences for cancer immunotherapy, CICON24 (Eighth International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference). The company's head of research, Professor, presented Magnus Essand, Elicera's CAR T program, including the iTANK platform.
Start of the CARMA study and clinical progress
In November, the company reached one of the biggest milestones in its history, when the first patient was included in the phase I/IIa study. CARMAThe study evaluates the safety and efficacy of CAR T-cell therapy ELC-301 for the treatment of B-cell lymphoma. The study includes a dose escalation part with 12 patients and a dose expansion part with an additional 6 patients. ELC-301 is activated with Elicera's iTANK platform that enhances immune activation and thus provides a broader attack on cancer cells. Complete response data from the first patient in the study, who became tumor-free, was announced in January 2025 and can be read more about in an interview here.
Ambitions for 2025
With a strong 2024 behind it, Elicera enters 2025 with high ambitions. The focus is on driving the CARMA study forward, presenting structured clinical results from upcoming cohorts from the study at several scientific conferences, and reporting final data from the Phase I study with ELC-100The latter will also result in a plan for the development of the program.
Comments from the CEO
BioStock contacted the CEO Jamal el-Mosleh to get his comments on the past year and what awaits in 2025.
Jamal, what achievements in 2024 are you particularly proud of, and how have they affected the company's development?
– 2024 has been a successful year for us, and I am proud of several important milestones that we have achieved. Firstly, we successfully completed a capital raising, which means that our cash is now estimated to last until approximately mid-2026. In addition, we have outstanding option programs that, in the best case scenario, could provide us with another two years of financing – that is, until mid-2028. This gives us a strong financial position to continue developing our promising drug candidates.
– Another important success was that we received approval from the Medical Products Agency to start the CARMA study, and that we included our first patient in 2024. This is a major milestone for us, as the CARMA program has the potential to offer a curative treatment option to seriously ill patients with B-cell lymphoma who are currently not helped by today's standard treatments.
– We have also reached a crucial point in the AdVince study, with our oncolytic virus ELC-100, where we managed to fully recruit patients for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors. We plan to finalize the study report in mid-2025, and we look forward to analyzing the results and what they may mean for further development.
– In summary, 2024 has been a year in which we have taken both important regulatory and operational steps forward, while ensuring long-term financial stability. This gives us a strong position to continue our work and create value for both patients and shareholders.
You have already made significant progress in the new year. Would you like to comment on this?
– Absolutely, we have had a strong start to the year with two important achievements that I would like to highlight.
– First, in January, we received Orphan Drug Designation from the US FDA for ELC-100 in the treatment of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. This is a significant regulatory milestone that brings several benefits, including seven years of market exclusivity in the US if the drug is approved, as well as opportunities for regulatory support and certain tax incentives. It also demonstrates that the authorities see a medical need for this treatment. The next step for us is to analyze data from our ongoing dose-escalation study, AdVince, before communicating how we proceed.
– The second progress concerns our CARMA study, where in January we were able to report a complete response in the first patient treated with our iTANK-armed CAR T-cell therapy. A complete response means that no signs of the tumor could be detected during the evaluation, which is of course very encouraging. What makes this particularly interesting is that the patient was treated in the lowest dose group, where we only administer one tenth of the planned maximum dose. In addition, we did not see any serious side effects, which is positive for the continued development of the study.
– At the same time, it is important to emphasize that these are results from an individual patient and that it is still too early to draw any definitive conclusions about the treatment's efficacy and safety. We need to collect and analyze much more data before we can make a more confident assessment. But it is gratifying that the study has started in a promising way, and we look forward to continuing to evaluate the treatment's potential.
What does the roadmap for 2025 look like and what are your expectations?
– 2025 will be a very important year for us with several crucial milestones in our programs.
– For the CARMA study, our primary focus is to identify the optimal dose for treatment with our iTANK-armed CAR T-cell therapy, ELC-301. We will treat a total of three patients in the first dose group before moving on to the next dose level. Our plan is to report structured and aggregated results after each completed dose group, and we plan to present these data at scientific conferences in 2025 and 2026. The exact timing of reporting will depend on the pace of the study and relevant conference dates.
– We also look forward to reporting the results of the AdVince study in mid-2025, where we will also communicate our strategy for taking the program forward. This is an important milestone in our development of treatments for neuroendocrine tumors.
– We are also actively working to secure soft funding and collaborations for our two preclinical programs, especially for ELC-401, which we see as a very promising CAR T-cell candidate for the treatment of glioblastoma (brain tumor). Our goal is to secure resources that will enable us to advance the program into the clinical phase. In parallel, we are focusing on creating new collaborations around the iTANK platform, and we expect that interest in the platform can be further strengthened if the CARMA data continues to show positive results.
– Finally, we look forward to the outcome of our option program, which could represent an important addition to our cash flow and provide us with additional financial flexibility to drive our projects forward. In summary, 2025 is a key year, where we not only generate and present important clinical data but also strengthen our long-term financial and strategic opportunities. Our team is focused on delivering on all these fronts and maximizing value for both patients and our shareholders.