NEW YORK – Geneos Therapeutics on Thursday said it raised another $5 million within a Series A3 funding round, bringing the total amount raised to $10 million.
Shanghai Healthcare Capital contributed funds in the round, and as a new investor in Geneos, SHC partner Jing Bao will join the Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania-based drugmaker's board as an observer. Geneos received the other $5 million in a Series A round in April. At the time, Geneos added 3B Future Health Fund to its investor syndicate, and 3B FHF partner Roberto De Ponti joined as a board observer.
Geneos is developing DNA vaccines using plasmids that can target 80 or more neoantigens in one formulation, enabling the inclusion of all patient-specific targetable neoantigens in nearly all cases. The raised funds will allow Geneos to further a Phase Ib/IIa trial, in which the firm is studying its personalized DNA vaccine GNOS-PV02 combined with plasmid-encoded IL-12 (INO-9012) and Merck's checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
In this ongoing trial, about 36 patients will receive the personalized vaccine initially in combination with a standard-of-care tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Upon disease progression or intolerance to the tyrosine kinase inhibitor, the patients will receive GNOS-PV02, INO-9012, and Keytruda. Researchers will assess patients' adverse events and immunogenicity of the vaccine as primary outcome measures in the trial. Secondarily, they will track patients' objective responses, duration of response, disease control, progression-free survival, and overall survival on the regimen.
In August, Geneos said that eight out of 34 treated patients had achieved a complete molecular response in the trial based on ctDNA analysis. Out of 32 evaluable patients, three had achieved complete responses by RECIST 1.1 criteria, seven had partial responses, nine had stable disease, and 13 had progressive disease.
The firm finished enrolling the trial in June and expects top-line safety and clinical response data to read out by year-end.