NEW YORK – Myeloid Therapeutics on Thursday said it completed a $73 million financing to support pipeline development including an ongoing Phase I/II trial of its lead cell therapy MT-101 in CD5+ relapsed or refractory T-cell lymphoma and advancement of its TROP2-targeted mRNA immunotherapy candidate MT-302 into a Phase I/II trial in patients with TROP2-expressing tumors.
The financing was led by Hatteras Investment Partners with participation by existing investors including Newpath Partners, 8VC, and Alexandria Venture investments, as well as new investors Arch Venture Partners and Moore Strategic Ventures.
MT-101 is made with myeloid cells derived from the patient's blood, modified to recognize and kill tumor cells, and infused back into the patient. In the first part of the IMAGINE trial, patients will receive a varying dose of cells with or without lymphodepleting chemotherapy to determine safety and tolerability of the therapy. In the second part, results from the first part will be used to administer cells with or without chemotherapy to assess safety, tolerability, and efficacy. To qualify for the trial, patients' tumors must test positive for CD5 by immunohistochemistry or flow cytometry.
At the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research last month, Myeloid presented results from a study in a rodent model of melanoma showing that MT-101 was associated with significant suppression of tumor growth.
MT-302 is designed as an in vivo CAR therapy for expression within myeloid cells, where the mRNA payload is selectively expressed by the cells. In a model of TROP2-expressing triple-negative breast cancer, Myeloid demonstrated that MT-302 had potent activity. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company is betting that mRNA-based MT-302 will have an advantage over comparable TROP2 antibody-drug conjugates by engaging the full immune response.