On January 31, 2024 Anbogen Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in groundbreaking cancer drug development, reported the successful completion of its Series A funding round (Press release, Anbogen Therapeutics, JAN 31, 2024, View Source [SID1234639759]). The lead investor is China Development Industrial Bank (CDIB), with significant contributions from Taian Venture Capital, Maxpro and the National Development Fund (Business Angel Investment Program, and Implementation Project for Strengthening Investment in SMEs), with a total investment of approximately 12.5 million. The raised capital will be directed towards the ongoing development of Anbogen’s two main drug candidates, ABT-101 and ABT-301. It is worth mentioning that both of these candidate drugs were supported by the National Research Program for Biopharmaceuticals (NRPB) before Anbogen took over. With the continued endeavor from Anbogen, these candidate drugs are steadily advancing in clinical trials for evaluation of their efficacy.
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ABT-101, a HER2-targeting tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), has exhibited substantial potency and safety during its pre-clinical and phase 1b clinical trial. During the pre-clinical study, ABT-101 demonstrated superior selectivity against HER2 exon20 insertion mutation. In the Phase 1b trial, Dr. Tsu-An Hsu, CEO of Anbogen, stated, "Signs of safety and clinical benefits have been observed in non-small cell lung cancer patients, including sustained tumor suppression in patients who previously developed resistance to Enhertu treatment." ABT-101 has completed the DLT evaluation of 3 dosage groups (100 mg, 150 mg, and 200 mg), and is now advancing to the 250 mg cohort in the phase 1b trial to continue evaluation of safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and efficacy. Phase 2 is scheduled to commence upon the completion of phase 1 trial in 2024.
Joe Hsueh, Anbogen’s General Manager, stated, "With bioventure investors support, we aim to expedite ABT-101 development and broaden its use across various solid tumor types (including colorectal, biliary tract, breast, urothelial, and other gastrointestinal cancers) through our basket trial. Furthermore, the integration of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) will facilitate our efforts in developing precision medicine for cancers with unmet clinical need, making a substantial contribution to the advancement of the field."
Additionally, Anbogen is actively progressing ABT-301, a novel small molecule drug that potentiates efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Having completed its phase 1 trial, ABT-301 exhibited superior safety and pharmacokinetic profiles compared to other marketed drugs with similar mechanism of action. Repeated animal studies reveal a surprising synergistic effect when ABT-301 is used in combination with immune ICIs (anti-PD1/anti-PD-L1) in animal models including colorectal cancer of microsatellite stable (MSS). ABT-301 can modulate the tumor microenvironment, increase the number of killer T cells in peripheral blood and infiltrating the tumor, enabling ICIs to overcome the limitations of "cold" tumors and produce immunotherapeutic effects. Additionally, remarkable efficacy of such combination was observed in head and neck cancer, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and liver cancer animal models. Based on these results, Anbogen has initiated preparations for the Phase 2 clinical trial of ABT-301, combining it with ICIs for the treatment of cancer patients.
Furthermore, leveraging years of experience in developing small molecule cancer drugs, Anbogen’s R&D team independently developed the ABT-200 series of small molecule inhibitors targeting pan-KRAS gene mutations. The ABT-200 series is an exciting development in the field of cancer treatment, showing promising advancements in its early stages. This series holds tremendous potential for addressing cancers that currently lack approved KRAS-targeted drugs, including pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer.
The Series A funding not only reflects the value of Anbogen’s innovative pipeline, but also underscores the company’s commitment to advancing cancer treatment to fulfill the unmet medical needs.