Geneos expands its Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial in lead indication for treating patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma
Financing led by Flerie Invest and Dr. Ted Fjällman joins Geneos’ Board of Directors
PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., March 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Geneos Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development of tumor neoantigen targeted personalized immunotherapies, announced today that it has secured $17 million in Series A2 financing. The financing was led by Flerie Invest with participation from all existing Series A investors including Santé Ventures, Korea Investment Partners (KIP) – Global Bio Fund, and INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: INO). In conjunction with the financing, Dr. Ted Fjällman, Partner, Flerie Invest joined Geneos’ Board of Directors.
“Geneos’ personalized immunotherapy shows compelling clinical data in liver cancer patients and the approach is well differentiated from the competition,” commented Dr Fjällman. “Flerie is delighted to work with the team and a great set of investors to accelerate the clinical development of this innovative platform technology.”
The proceeds will be used for the expansion of the company’s GT-30 Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial. GT-30 evaluates Geneos’ personalized cancer vaccine, GNOS-PV02, for treating patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a type of liver cancer. GNOS-PV02, is a tumor-specific DNA plasmid-based product designed and manufactured for each patient based on their unique tumor mutations (neoantigens), identified by sequencing each patient’s tumor. In the trial, GNOS-PV02 is combined with a DNA encoded cytokine IL-12 (INO-9012) and PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor (pembrolizumab). Geneos will increase the number of patients treated from 24 to 36 patients. Additionally, the proceeds will fund pipeline expansion into a new indication, and continued company operations.
“We are excited to welcome Ted to the Board of Directors and Flerie Invest into our investor syndicate. We look forward to tapping into Flerie Invest’s network in Europe and their expertise to gain access to patients as we advance our potentially transformative personalized cancer therapies,” said Dr. Niranjan Y. Sardesai, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Geneos Therapeutics. “The Series A2 financing will enable us to expand the current pipeline by leveraging the versatility of our GT-EPIC™ platform and capitalize on its initial differentiated success in this difficult to treat type of liver cancer. We previously reported tumor reduction in over half of the patients and three partial responses by RECIST 1.1 in the first 12 patients treated and continue to see a similar trend in the next 12 patients. We look forward to showcasing durability of response data and reporting key milestone efficacy data from 24 patients in 2022.”
For more information about the company and its leadership team, visit www.geneostx.com
About Geneos Therapeutics
At Geneos Therapeutics, we believe that personalized therapies are the future of cancer treatment. Our passion is to develop personalized therapies to unleash the most powerful force against cancer – patients’ own immune system. Our approach using our GT-EPIC™ platform is to target unique neoantigens (abnormal mutations produced by cancer cells) from individual patient tumors to develop novel and personalized treatments for cancer. We have an experienced management team with a track record of success in building immunotherapy-based companies.
About Liver Cancer
Globally, liver cancers are the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death and ranked sixth in terms of annual incidence. The rate of death from liver cancer in the U.S. has increased 43% from 2000 to 2016 and with a 5-year survival rate of 18% for advanced liver cancer, it is the second most deadly tumor behind pancreatic. HCC accounts for the majority of primary liver cancers.
About GT-EPIC™ Platform:
Geneos Therapeutics’ proprietary GT-EPIC™ Neoantigen-Targeting Platform is based on the design and delivery of highly optimized synthetic DNA plasmids and their combinations for cancer immunotherapy. The GT-EPIC™ platform allows Geneos to develop exquisitely personalized therapies tailored to each patient’s unique tumor mutations. The platform is developed to deliver the following key advantages: Ability to drive potent and broad T cell immune responses, capability to target an unprecedented number of neoantigens in a single formulation, and a rapid manufacturing turnaround time. Geneos believes that these are three key differentiators that will drive the company, and the oncology space, into the next generation of personalized immunotherapies.
About Flerie Invest:
Flerie Invest is a European biotech and pharma investor managing a portfolio of more than 20 companies in the US, UK, Sweden and other countries. The portfolio companies are engaged in a wide range of areas including immuno-oncology, metabolic diseases and biologics development and manufacturing. The present investment focus is on drug development and tools for drug development. The company was founded in 2010 by Thomas Eldered, who also co-founded and built Recipharm to be one of the top five pharmaceutical contract manufacturers globally. Flerie Invest is based in Stockholm and London.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to our business, including our plans regarding the development of tumor neoantigen targeted personalized immunotherapies for cancer, our expectations regarding our research and development programs, including the planned expansion and conduct of clinical trials and the availability and timing of data from those trials, and the use of our capital resources. Actual events or results may differ from the expectations set forth herein. There can be no assurance that any product candidate in Geneos’ pipeline will be successfully developed, manufactured or commercialized, that final results of clinical trials will be supportive of regulatory approvals required to market licensed products, or that any of the forward-looking information provided herein will be proven accurate. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release, and Geneos undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, except as may be required by law.
SOURCE Geneos Therapeutics, Inc.