Alx oncology Co., Ltd. completed the financing of USD 105 million round C

Editor's note: since the interaction of CD47 between cancer cells and immune system has become clear, many pharmaceutical companies have started to use CD47 as a research and development target There is evidence that tumor cells often signal "don't eat me" to macrophages by increasing the expression of CD47 on the cell surface Today, Alex Oncology (formerly alexo therapeutics) announced the completion of a $105 million round C financing to support the phase 2 clinical development of its CD47 checkpoint inhibitor, alx148, in combination with other anticancer therapies for solid and blood cancers Previously, the company has completed $60 million of financing This round of financing is based on the latest phase 1 clinical trial data of alx148 combined with rituximab in the treatment of relapsed / refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) In this trial, the combination therapy achieved an objective response rate (ORR) of 43% and a median progression free survival (PFS) of 7.3 months in NHL patients CD47 protein is a natural inhibitor of macrophage function in human body By increasing the expression of CD47 on the cell surface, healthy cells can be prevented from being damaged by the immune system Blocking the CD47 SIRP α pathway may enhance innate and adaptive immunity against cancer After modification, the fusion protein developed by alx company can bind CD47 with stronger affinity than natural SIRP α Its main candidate drug, alx148, is an intravenous fusion protein, which contains two SIRP α high affinity CD47 binding domains linked to the inactive Fc domain of human immunoglobulin (as shown in the figure below) Alx148 structure diagram (picture source: alx oncology official website) The Fc domain of alx148 was modified to be inactive to FC γ receptor, which greatly reduced the toxicity of CD47 inhibitor to blood Moreover, the molecular weight of ALX148 is half of that of the antibody, so it can achieve linear pharmacokinetics with about half of the dose of anti CD47 antibody, and reach the occupancy rate of CD47 target In the preclinical model, alx148 blocked CD47 through FC dependent and independent mechanisms, enhancing the activity of checkpoint inhibitors and anti-cancer targeted antibodies By linking innate and adaptive immunity, alx148 activates a variety of immune cells to fight against tumors At present, the company is also studying the treatment prospect of its CD47 checkpoint inhibitor combined with Herceptin and keytruda in solid tumor patients Schematic diagram of action mechanism of alx148 (picture source: Official Website of alx Oncology) The press release noted that while round C financing will support the operation of Alex oncology for some time, there are indications that the company plans to raise more funds from other investors Last month, the company appointed Peter Garc í a as its chief financial officer, and in a statement disclosed his previous experience in "leading the IPO process." reference material: [1] Corey Goodman marshals $105M mega-round for his CD47 upstart, looking to break new ground in PhII，Retrieved February 12，2020，from https://endpts.com/corey-goodman-marshals-105m-mega-round-for-his-cd47-upstart-looking-to-break-new-ground-in-phii/ [2] ALX Oncology Announces Closing of $105 Million Series C Financing, Retrieved February 12，2020，from https://