On October 19, 2020 ONK Therapeutics Ltd, an innovative natural killer (NK) cell therapy company, reported that it has raised US$8M in a financing from new and existing investors (Press release, ONK Therapeutics, OCT 19, 2020, View Source [SID1234568612]). This brings the total raised in the last six months to US$14.6M. It also announces the appointment of Chris Nowers as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
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The new financing round was led by New York-based investor Acorn Bioventures, and current shareholders, principally Seamus Mulligan, an experienced biopharmaceutical executive. The new investment will be used to expand the company’s team, its pre-clinical R&D and its manufacturing capabilities, in order to progress its novel, dual-targeted, natural killer (NK) cell therapy platform towards human clinical trials.
Founded in 2015, by Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) Prof. Michael O’Dwyer, ONK Therapeutics is a pre-clinical stage company dedicated to the development of a best-in-class, off-the-shelf, dual-targeted NK cell therapy platform, targeting solid and hematological cancers. This unique approach combines the expression of a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and a high affinity, membrane-bound TNF related apoptosis inducing ligand variant (TRAILv). This is coupled with a strong research focus on strategies to enhance homing and persistence as well as to overcome exhaustion, including the exploration of proprietary gene edits, such as the deletion of checkpoint inhibitory receptors in NK cells. The company is advancing an expanding portfolio of product candidates based on this unique platform.
Chris Nowers joins as CEO to lead the company’s expansion and development. Chris is an experienced biopharma executive, with significant cell therapy expertise from his tenure at both Kite Pharma (Head of Europe) and Cell Medica (CEO). Additional roles spanning more than 25 years in the biopharma industry include senior leadership positions as CEO of Avantogen Oncology, General Management roles at Amgen, and senior global and regional commercial leadership roles in the field of immunology at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS).
The company’s lead research program, ONKT101, is a dual-targeted NK cell therapy incorporating a CD19 CAR and TRAILv targeting the death receptor pathway (DR5) intended for the treatment of relapsed/refractory B cell malignancies. This program is partnered with Avectas and will utilize its proprietary SOLUPORETM technology as a means of non-viral genetic modification. The second program, ONKT102, combines an optimized affinity CD38 CAR and a TRAILv targeting DR5 intended for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.
Chris Nowers, CEO, said "I was attracted to the company’s innovative and unique approaches, which harness the natural biology of NK cells, and further optimize them through genetic modifications to improve both their cytotoxicity and functionality. This exciting off-the-shelf platform has the potential to produce a next-generation of cell therapies, which could improve performance and overcome some of the shortcomings seen with earlier approaches."
Commenting on the investment, Isaac Manke, PhD, Partner at Acorn Bioventures said "ONK Therapeutics is a highly innovative next-generation NK cell therapy company with an exciting portfolio of research stage assets targeting both hematological and solid tumors. It is anticipated that this financing will enable the company to progress multiple programs through IND enabling work and towards clinical studies."
Following the investment, Dr Manke and Mr Nowers will join the board of directors.