Cell Medica Rebrands as Kuur Therapeutics with New CEO

 

Houston-based Cell Medica has rebranded itself as Kuur Therapeutics as it dives into the development of anti-cancer therapies using its innovative chimeric antigen receptor natural killer T cell (CAR-NKT) therapy platform.

As the company embarks on its new business, it does so with the financial support from IP Group, Baylor College of Medicine and Schroeder Adveq. The financial support will be used to support two Phase I studies, GINAKIT 2, exploring autologous CAR-NKT cells in neuroblastoma, and ANCHOR, which is assessing allogeneic CAR-NKT cells in CD19 malignancy. The ongoing GINAKIT2 study is now enrolling patients at the third dose level and the ANCHOR study Investigational New Drug (IND) application has recently been approved by the FDA, with the first patient treatment expected in the first half 2020, Kuur said this morning. The funding will also support the preclinical development of an allogeneic CAR-NKT product for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, ahead of an IND submission anticipated in 1H 2021.

Kuur’s novel CAR-NKT platform is a next-generation technology of engineered immune cells with enhanced functions for the treatment of hematological and solid tumors. It uses the unique properties of NKT cells, a specialized type of innate lymphocyte, which shares properties with both T and NK cells. Kuur’s CAR-NKT cells have been engineered to secrete IL-15, to prolong persistence and enhance anti-tumor activity. This platform was developed in the laboratory of Baylor Principal Investigator Leonid Metelitsa and has been exclusively licensed to Kuur by its partner and collaborator, Baylor College of Medicine.

Metelitsa said the NKT-cell platform technology developed in his laboratory offers a “unique route to next-generation off-the-shelf CAR therapies for a broad range of malignancies.”

Last year, as Cell Medica, the company and its collaborators from the Baylor College of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Texas presented evidence of clinical activity and a good safety profile in neuroblastoma patients treated at low dose levels of autologous CAR-NKT cells at the 2019 American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy conference. The data showed that human CAR-NKT cells did not induce graft versus host disease in mice, whereas CAR-T cells from the same human donor cause severe GvHD.

With the new financing and the rebranding, Kuur will be helmed by its new chief executive officer Kevin S. Boyle, Sr. Boyle most recently served as chief financial officer at Cell Medica and previously held senior finance roles at other companies. Boyle will succeed Chris Nowers as CEO.

Annalisa Jenkins, chairperson of Kuur’s board of directors, called Boyle a “change agent” who will lead the company during a crucial period. She added that Boyle will be instrumental in helping secure additional financing for the company to advance its lead CAR-NKT products through the clinic. Over the course of his career, Boyle has raised over $2 billion in equity and debt capital.

“I am excited to lead Kuur Therapeutics at such a pivotal moment. We are making final preparations to take our off-the-shelf program into the clinic and believe the allogeneic approach holds huge promise for unlocking the potential of CAR therapies for large patient populations. Compared with patient-specific autologous CAR products, it is immediately available for treatment and less expensive to manufacture,” Boyle said in a statement.