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Leucid Bio to Participate in Upcoming Healthcare Conferences

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London, UK – 31 October 2023 – Leucid Bio ("Leucid" or the "Company"), a privately-held biotechnology company pursuing the development of innovative Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies using the Company’s proprietary Lateral CAR platform, today announced that management will be participating in the following upcoming investor conferences during the month of November:

 

  • BIO-Europe at Messe München, Munich, Germany. Leucid Bio management will be hosting 1-on-1 meetings from November 6 - 8.

  • LSX Investival Showcase at Old Billingsgate, London, UK. Filippo Petti, Chief Executive Officer, is scheduled to present on Monday, November 13, at 12:45 pm GMT.

  • Jefferies London Healthcare Conference at The Waldorf Hilton in London, UK. Leucid Bio management will be hosting 1-on-1 meetings from November 14 - 16.

 

About Leucid Bio

Leucid Bio is a biotechnology company developing novel, Lateral CAR cell therapies for the treatment of refractory cancers. Leucid was established to translate 20 years of King's College London research in the CAR-T field and is led by a highly experienced management team, including scientific founder John Maher. Leucid is headquartered in London, UK, with operations based at Guy’s Hospital, which enables the Company to maintain its patient-centric focus on developing next-generation cell therapies for the benefit of individuals with hard-to-treat solid tumours. For more information, please visit the Leucid Bio website at https://www.leucid.com/.

 

Optimum Strategic Communications

Hana Malik, Vici Rabbetts, Eleanor Cooper

Tel: +44 20 3922 0891

Email: leucid@optimumcomms.com

Q4 2013 conferences

Leucid Bio Granted MHRA Clinical Trial Authorisation for Lateral NKG2D CAR T-Cell Therapy LEU011

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  • Company on-track to dose first patient in LEU011 Phase 1/2 AERIAL trial during the fourth quarter of 2023

  • Lead programme, LEU011 previously awarded an Innovation Passport by MHRA for the treatment of solid tumours expressing NKG2D ligands

 

London, UK – 21 September 2023 – Leucid Bio ("Leucid" or the "Company"), a privately-held biotechnology company pursuing the development of innovative Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies using the Company’s proprietary Lateral CAR platform, today announced that the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has granted clinical trial authorisation (CTA) to commence the Phase 1/2 AERIAL clinical trial evaluating the safety and tolerability of LEU011 for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory solid tumours.  

 

In September 2022, LEU011 received the innovative medicine designation, the Innovation Passport, as part of the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP) from the MHRA for the treatment of solid tumours expressing NKG2D ligands. Established in 2021, ILAP is a pathway supporting innovative approaches to the safe, timely and efficient development of medicines to improve patient access.

 

“The MHRA’s authorisation and the ILAP designation for LEU011 highlight the strong potential of our proprietary lateral CAR T candidate LEU011 for the treatment of solid tumours,” commented Filippo Petti, Chief Executive Officer, Leucid Bio. “The development of LEU011 demonstrates our commitment to pushing the boundaries in cell therapy research and underpins our dedicated focus on pursuing novel, durable therapies for cancer patients with limited treatment options.”

 

Dr. John Maher, Chief Scientific Officer, Leucid Bio, stated, “The design of the AERIAL trial, which was inspired by our exciting preclinical data for LEU011, is aimed at assessing the broad potential of the innovative cell therapy across several solid tumours expressing NKG2D ligands. We look forward to initiating the AERIAL study over the next few months and providing preliminary first-in-human data for LEU011 in 2024.” 

 

About LEU011 and AERIAL Trial

LEU011 is an autologous, lateral CAR T cell therapy targeting NKG2D ligands. The NKG2D receptor enables immune recognition of one or more of the eight human NKG2D ligands expressed on transformed, infected or damaged cells. LEU011 has the potential for the treatment of multiple cancer indications as NKG2D ligands are reported to be expressed on more than 80% of human tumours. 

 

The Phase 1/2 AERIAL trial will evaluate the safety and clinical activity of LEU011 in patients with relapsed or refractory solid tumours following preconditioning chemotherapy. The Phase 1/2 trial consists of an open-label, single-ascending dose design which will identify the maximum tolerated dose for LEU011. Following the dose-escalation portion of the trial, LEU011 will further be evaluated in a dose expansion open-label segment with enrolment of patients with solid tumours expressing one or more NKG2D ligands.

 

About Leucid Bio

Leucid Bio is a biotechnology company developing novel, Lateral CAR cell therapies for the treatment of refractory cancers. Leucid was established to translate 20 years of King's College London research in the CAR-T field and is led by a highly experienced management team, including scientific founder John Maher. Leucid is headquartered in London, UK, with operations based at Guy’s Hospital including R&D and process development laboratories, enabling the Company to maintain its patient-centric focus on developing next-generation cell therapies for the benefit of individuals with hard-to-treat solid tumours.

 

For more information please contact:

Optimum Strategic Communications

Stephen Adams, Hana Malik, Vici Rabbetts, Eleanor Cooper, Vareen Outhonesack

+44 (0) 208 078 4357

leucid@optimumcomms.com

CTA LEU011
NKG2DLAug23paper

The Role and Regulation of the NKG2D/NKG2D Ligand System in Cancer

  • Spotlight on the Intricate Dance of Immunity and Cancer: Discovering the Role of NKG2D/NKG2D Ligands

 

In a recent publication, our CSO, John Maher, and his  colleagues at Leucid Bio, King’s College London and Eastbourne Hospital, shed light on a remarkable facet of the human immune system.

 

At A Glance:

  • The immune system vigilantly monitors and removes harmful cells, and one of its powerful tools is the NKG2D receptor.

  • Found on white blood cells, NKG2D seeks out NKG2D ligands, proteins generally absent from healthy cells but often present on stressed or cancerous cells.

  • The presence of these ligands makes rapid detection of harmful cells possible, and manipulating their expression offers promising therapeutic interventions.

  • However, there's a catch! The NKG2D system can be a double-edged sword, potentially exacerbating inflammation and advancing cancer progression when not checked.

 

Deeper Dive:

This system provides a meticulous surveillance mechanism, balancing early detection against the risk of autoimmunity. This delicate equilibrium is made even more intricate by the diverse nature of NKG2DL, the multifaceted control of its expression, and the various outcomes based on the NKG2D/NKG2DL interactions.

 

Importantly, context is paramount. How NKG2DL operates is heavily influenced by its environment, affecting tumour control or progression. Furthermore, given the intricate nature of this system, any therapeutic interventions targeting NKG2DL expression must be approached with utmost precision.

 

It's a dance of biology where every step matters, and understanding the choreography can revolutionise our approach to cancer treatment and prevention.

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Do read their full publication to grasp the nuances of this system:

Biology 2023,12(8),1079; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12081079

At Leucid Bio, guided by these comprehensive insights, we are progressing with our lateral CAR-T therapy, LEU011, specifically designed to target NKG2D ligands in the treatment of solid tumours. We anticipate its clinical introduction in the latter part of this year.

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  • Seasoned CAR T executive to lead Leucid’s corporate strategy built around its proprietary lateral CAR platform

 

London, UK – 18 July 2023 – Leucid Bio (“Leucid” or the “Company”), a biotech company pursuing a differentiated approach to develop next generation Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies using the Company’s proprietary Lateral CAR platform, today announced the appointment of Filippo Petti as its Chief Executive Officer, with immediate effect. Mr. Petti has also been named as a member of Leucid Bio’s Board of Directors.​

 

Mr. Petti brings broad industry expertise to the organization across operations, finance and research. He has experience working with biotech companies focused on oncology drug development both in the U.S. and Europe. Most recently, Mr. Petti was Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Celyad Oncology SA, a biotechnology company focused on CAR-T cell therapies for cancer. 

 

Prior to Celyad Oncology SA, Mr. Petti spent several years as a healthcare investment banker at Wells Fargo Securities and William Blair & Company, where he specialised in working with cell and gene therapy companies. In addition, Mr. Petti has worked in equity research both at William Blair & Company and Wedbush Securities. He began his career as a research scientist at OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. before transitioning to corporate development with the company. Mr. Petti holds a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University, a Master of Science from St. John’s University and a Bachelor of Science from Syracuse University.

 

Commenting on the appointment, Ian Miscampbell, Chairman of Leucid Bio, said: “Leucid will benefit immensely from Filippo’s proven leadership skills, extensive deal-making experience and in-depth scientific knowledge. Over the past year, Leucid has taken key steps to advance the Company’s lead Lateral CAR programme LEU011 towards the clinic. The Board is confident Filippo will help guide Leucid during this critical next phase, as it pivots from a discovery company into a clinical organisation, while accelerating our growth as a world-class CAR-T cell company focused on the treatment of cancer patients. Everyone is looking forward to working under his leadership and executing on his vision for the Company.”

 

Filippo Petti, newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, added: “Leucid’s unique approach to the field of CAR-T has tremendous potential to help cancer patients around the world. The ability to combine the Company’s proprietary Lateral CAR platform with other emerging technologies the team are developing is incredibly exciting. I look forward to working with its exceptionally talented team to advance LEU011 and its other cell therapy programmes into the clinic and ultimately to the market.”

 

 

-ENDS-

 

For more information please contact:

 

Optimum Strategic Communications

Hollie Vile, Hana Malik, Vici Rabbetts, Eleanor Cooper

Tel: +44 (0) 208 078 4357

Email: leucid@optimumcomms.com

 

About Leucid Bio

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Leucid Bio is a pioneering biotech company developing cell therapies for refractory cancers, especially solid tumours. Leucid was founded to translate 20 years of King's College London (King’s) research in the CAR-T field and is led by a highly experienced management team with both scientific and commercial expertise. As part of Leucid’s ongoing relationship with King’s, it benefits from exclusive access to and resources from the deep scientific, clinical and manufacturing expertise of John Maher and his academic team of immuno-oncology experts.

Leucid is headquartered in London, UK, with operations based at Guy’s Hospital with its own R&D and process development laboratories, enabling it to maintain its patient-centric focus on developing better cell therapies for the benefit of individuals with hard-to-treat solid tumours.  

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About LEU011

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LEU011 is a lateral CAR cell therapy targeting NKG2D ligands. LEU011 is currently awaiting approval from regulators to commence clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumours and haematological malignancies. The NKG2D receptor is an activating immune receptor that triggers cell death upon recognition of one or more of the eight human NKG2D ligands expressed on transformed, infected or damaged cells. LEU011 has potential for the treatment of multiple cancer types as NKG2D ligands are expressed on more than 80% of human tumour cells.

Leucid Bio Appoints Filippo Petti as Chief Executive Officer

Petti
ImaginAb

ImaginAb Executes New License and Supply Agreement for CD8 ImmunoPET Technology with Leucid Bio

LOS ANGELES and LONDON, April 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ImaginAb Inc., a global biotechnology company developing 89Zr crefmirlimab berdoxam (CD8 ImmunoPET™) imaging agent and radiopharmaceutical therapies (RPT), is pleased to announce the execution of a new non-exclusive License and Supply Agreement with Leucid Bio (Leucid), a biotech company pursuing a differentiated approach to develop next generation Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies using the Company's proprietary Lateral CAR Platform.

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Under the terms of the agreement, ImaginAb will license and supply clinical doses of ImaginAb's investigational CD8 ImmunoPET tracer, 89Zr crefmirlimab berdoxam, to Leucid for use in its basket study in solid tumors, with LEU011targeting NKG2DL, Autologous CAR T-cells.

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Ian Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of ImaginAb, said: "We are delighted that Leucid Bio will use our investigational CD8 ImmunoPET for the first time in conjunction with CAR-T therapies. This agreement with Leucid Bio is an opportunity for ImaginAb to continue expanding our partnerships and showcases the increasing adoption of our CD8 ImmunoPET technology."

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Artin Moussavi, Chief Business Officer of Leucid Bio, commented: "This is an exciting partnership for Leucid as this cutting edge technology will provide evidence of the biodistribution of LEU011 CAR T-cells. This will be the first time this technology will be used in a solid tumor CAR-T clinical setting allowing Leucid to generate data that demonstrates the tracking of LEU011 to tumor sites in the first phase of the trial. This data would validate, in humans, the significant improvements already demonstrated with LEU011 in preclinical studies."

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About ImaginAb

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A clinical stage, revenue-generating global biotechnology company developing next-generation imaging agents and radiopharmaceutical therapy products through its proprietary minibody and cys-diabody platforms. The lead candidate, CD8 ImmunoPET™, is currently in Phase II clinical trials and has been licensed by pharmaceutical and biotech companies for use in immunotherapy clinical trials.

 

For more information, visit www.imaginab.com

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About CD8 ImmunoPET™ (89Zr crefmirlimab berdoxam)

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An 89Zr-labeled minibody that has been designed to bind to the CD8 receptor on human T cells for quantitative, non-invasive PET imaging. This method is currently being researched to determine whether it may be used to diagnose the immune status of a patient, to measure the efficacy of immunotherapies, and to predict patient outcomes.

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About Leucid Bio

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Leucid Bio is a pioneering biotech company developing cell therapies for refractory cancers, especially solid tumours. Leucid was founded to translate 20 years of King's College London (King's) research in the CAR-T field and is led by a highly experienced management team with both scientific and commercial expertise. As part of Leucid's ongoing relationship with King's, it benefits from exclusive access to and resources from the deep scientific, clinical, and manufacturing expertise of John Maher and his academic team of immuno-oncology experts.

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Leucid is headquartered in London, UK, with operations based at Guy's Hospital with its own R&D and process development laboratories, enabling it to maintain its patient-centric focus on developing better cell therapies for the benefit of individuals with hard-to-treat solid tumours.

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SOURCE ImaginAb, Inc.

Leucid Bio and Great Ormond Street Hospital enter commercial agreement at new gene therapy manufacturing centre

  • Agreement to manufacture Leucid Lead asset, LEU011 for the treatment of solid tumours and haematological malignancies utilising facilities and quality assurance services at the Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children is first-of-its-kind.

  • Leucid Bio to retain IP in respect of services arising from this venture.

  • Leucid Bio expects to file its CTA to initiate the clinical trial in H1 2023 and subject to regulatory approval to be dosing patients, by H2 2023.

 

​London, UK – 16 March 2023 – Leucid Bio (“Leucid” or the “Company”), a biotech company pursuing a differentiated approach to develop next generation Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies using the Company’s proprietary Lateral CAR Platform to improve treatment outcomes and save the lives of patients with refractory cancers, today announces a first-of-its-kind commercial manufacturing master services agreement with Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (GOSH) to manufacture lead asset, LEU011 a lateral CAR targeting NKG2D ligands, for use in human clinical studies. Leucid Bio expects to file its Clinical Trial Application (CTA) to initiate the clinical trial in H1 2023 and to be dosing patients suffering from solid tumours and haematological malignancies, by H2 2023, subject to regulatory approval. 

GOSH operates specialised manufacturing facilities for research and development of cell and gene therapies. This includes clean-room laboratories, storage and specialist training facilities. Under the terms of the agreement GOSH will work with Leucid at the state-of-the-art cleanroom facilities at the Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children and provide quality assurance services required for manufacture of clinical product for the LEU011 first-in-man study, and potentially, other Leucid clinical programmes. 

 

Each Party will retain ownership of background IP and Leucid (subject to contractual obligations) will own all Intellectual Property Rights arising from the Manufacturing Services performed.

 

Ian Miscampbell, Interim Executive Chairman of Leucid Bio, said: “We are extremely pleased to enter this first-of-its-kind agreement with GOSH to manufacture our lead asset, LEU011, for use in human studies. Additionally, we are pleased to have started a process with GOSH to examine the feasibility of applying our approach in the paediatric setting where there remains a great unmet need for new therapies. Working in close collaboration with leading institutes such as GOSH is fundamental to our ability to move quickly into clinical trials, using their state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities based here in London.” 

 

Stephen Mathew, Head of Innovation at GOSH said: “Gene and cell therapies are the cutting-edge in clinical research, holding promise to offer personalised cancer treatment, including for rare forms that affect children and young people. At Great Ormond Street Hospital, we see children with the most rare and complex cancers. There have been incredible strides forward in the treatments that we can offer, however, sadly for many these still don’t work. Gene and cell therapies offer hope for better, and potentially curative treatments which is why we’re excited to support innovation in gene therapies through access to these highly specialist and unique facilities.”

 

CAR T-cell therapy is revolutionary technology in which immune cells, called T-cells, are reprogrammed so they can recognise and destroy cancer cells. This has proven to be a powerful therapy for refractory blood cancers but to date has lacked efficacy for the treatment of solid cancers.

 

Leucid Bio has developed two proprietary platforms that build upon Dr Maher’s novel ‘lateral’ CAR-T model which develops CAR-T molecules designed to adopt a more natural configuration within the T-cells. The technology gives properties to the CAR-Ts that enable them to consistently outperform previous generations of CAR-T therapies in pre-clinical studies; enhancing T-cell potency and generating a persistent long-term response with reduced toxicity.

 

LEU011 is based on a novel lateral CAR structure, in which complementary signalling domains are integrated in parallel across the cell membrane. This formation replicates the natural side-by-side position of these molecules across the cell membrane that is seen in endogenous immune receptors.  

Previous pre-clinical studies have shown that LEU011 consistently outperforms previous generations of CAR T-cells in those studies, enabling better control over T-cell activation, superior anti-tumour activity, and a favourable toxicity profile.  

 

-ENDS-

For more information please contact:

 

Optimum Strategic Communications

Hollie Vile, Vici Rabbetts, Eleanor Cooper

Tel: +44 (0) 208 078 4357

Email: leucid@optimumcomms.com

 

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children

Georgina Hill

Tel: 07514846033

Email: georgina.hill@gosh.nhs.uk

  

About Leucid Bio

​

Leucid Bio is a pioneering biotech company developing cell therapies for refractory cancers, especially solid tumours. Leucid was founded to translate 20 years of King's College London (King’s) research in the CAR-T field and is led by a highly experienced management team with both scientific and commercial expertise. As part of Leucid’s ongoing relationship with King’s, it benefits from exclusive access to and resources from the deep scientific, clinical and manufacturing expertise of John Maher and his academic team of immuno-oncology experts.

Leucid is headquartered in London, UK, with operations based at Guy’s Hospital with its own R&D and process development laboratories, enabling it to maintain its patient-centric focus on developing better cell therapies for the benefit of individuals with hard-to-treat solid tumours.  

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About Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust   

Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world’s leading children’s hospitals with the broadest range of dedicated, children’s healthcare specialists under one roof in the UK. The hospital’s pioneering research and treatment gives hope to children from across the UK with the rarest, most complex and often life-threatening conditions. Our patients and families are central to everything we do – from the moment they come through 

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GOSH
Building Bridges toCAR-T

Solid Tumours: Building Bridges to CAR-T Success

by Dr John Maher

Clin. Transl. Disc. 2023;3:e179.

Leucid's CSO, John Maher, an expert in CAR-T immunotherapy of solid tumours, has shared his perspective on the progress of CAR T-cell immunotherapy in treating solid tumours in an article published today in Clinical and Translational Discovery.

 

While CAR T-cell therapy has shown remarkable success in treating blood cancers, it has faced several challenges in treating non-haematological malignancies. These challenges include target selection, trafficking, immune effector function within the tumour microenvironment, and host cell selection. However, researchers are developing pre-clinical technologies to address these issues, and advances in cellular engineering and complementary interventions offer hope for future success. Although immunotherapy of solid tumours using CAR T-cell immunotherapy lags behind blood cancers, advances in engineering the cells, the use of combinatorial therapeutic approaches, and improvements in manufacturing technologies offer significant promise for the development of successful CAR T-cell drugs for solid tumours in the near future.

London UK, 23 March 2023

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Read the full article.​

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Leucid Bio provides business update and outlook for 2023 

  • Proprietary Lateral CAR Platform achieved pre-clinical proof-of-concept data demonstrating prolonged disease-free survival compared to other CAR T-cell products. 

  • Lead programme, LEU011 has completed pre-clinical development for the treatment of solid tumours and is in pre-clinical development for a range of haematological malignancies.   

  • Leucid expects to file its CTA to initiate the clinical trial in H1 2023 and to be dosing patients by H2 2023. 

  • Bolstered Senior Leadership team and restructured Executive Team to prepare the Company for its next phase of growth. 

  • Achieved Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP) status enabling an accelerated time to market, facilitating patient access to medicines. 

London, UK – 16 February 2023 – Leucid Bio (“Leucid” or the “Company”), a biotech company pursuing a differentiated approach to develop next generation Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies using the Company’s proprietary Lateral CAR Platform to improve treatment outcomes and save the lives of patients with refractory cancers, today provides a business update.   

 

Lateral CAR Platform has demonstrated exceptional efficacy compared to traditional Linear CARs 

Founded to translate over 20 years of pioneering CAR-T research led by Leucid’s Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr John Maher at King’s College London, Leucid has developed a unique Lateral CAR Platform building upon John’s novel CAR-T model which develops CAR molecules designed to adopt a more natural biological configuration.   

 

CAR T-cell therapy is a revolutionary technology in which immune cells, called T-cells, are reprogrammed so they can recognise and destroy cancer cells. This has proven to be a powerful therapy for refractory blood cancers, but to date has lacked efficacy for the treatment of solid cancers. 

 

Leucid’s novel approach, reconfigures the way a CAR is constructed by moving the key functional components into their natural lateral position next to the plasma membrane, as opposed to a linear configuration. The technology platform gives properties to the CAR-Ts that enable them to consistently outperform previous generations of CAR-T therapies in pre-clinical studies; enhancing tumour targeting and selectivity, T-cell potency and generating a persistent long-term response with reduced toxicity. 

 

Clinical Development - pre-clinical models demonstrate the ability to overcome key challenges in CAR T-cell treatment of solid tumours 

2022 saw the pre-clinical package for the Company’s lead programme LEU011, a Lateral CAR targeting NKG2D ligands, fully assembled. The NKG2D receptor is an activating immune receptor that triggers cell death upon recognition of one or more of the eight human NKG2D ligands expressed on transformed, infected or damaged cells.  

 

Leucid has generated robust pre-clinical proof of concept data that demonstrate therapeutic potential for a range of solid tumours including colorectal, pancreatic, mesothelioma, ovarian (both epithelial and high-grade serous subtypes) and breast cancer. These studies consistently demonstrate prolonged disease-free survival compared to other CAR T-cell products, including those in clinical trials. The method of testing employed by Leucid Bio is characterised by its rigorous approach to evaluating the persistence of CAR-T anti-tumour function in vivo. By looking for long-term protection after tumour re-challenge, Leucid sets the gold standard for this type of testing. 

 

Collaborations 

Leucid holds exclusive option rights to King’s College London’s broad portfolio of CAR-T assets for future pipeline expansion. The Company has a laboratory base at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and is currently looking for Clean Room space ahead of Phase I clinical testing of LEU011. 

 

Management and Senior Leadership Team Update 

Over the last 18 months, the Company has successfully built its Senior Leadership team under Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Artin Moussavi, which now comprises: 

  • John Maher, Chief Scientific Officer - Translating over 20 years of pioneering CAR-T research, John established CAR T-cell research at King’s College London in 2004 where he leads the "CAR Mechanics" group 

  • Mark Docherty, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer - Seasoned Life Sciences investment and operational professional with over 25 years experience in the sector, focusing in the last 12 years on advanced therapies 

  • Arindam Mitra, Director CMC - Strong operations professional with a focus on early phase first in man clinical trials along with excellent knowledge of regulatory (Europe & North America) and compliance management  

  • Belinda Carlsen, VP Clinical Operations - More than 20 years’ experience of the various aspects of clinical research, specialising in advanced therapies 

  • Marc Davies, VP CAR Engineering - an immunologist and molecular biologist with over 15 years’ experience in the field of adoptive T-cell immunotherapy and cancer immunology   

 

As the Company enters its next growth phase, and in order to position the Company to fully exploit all of the opportunities afforded by its strong IP position and Platform, it is an opportune time for the Board to re-configure the Management Team.  Artin Moussavi will move to the role of Chief Business Officer (CBO) to focus fully on building the Company’s industry relationships. Non-Executive Chairman Ian Miscampbell will move to the role of Interim Executive Chairman as the Company actively seeks a new CEO to take Leucid’s multiple programmes into clinical development, and expand on its partnerships and collaborations.  

 

Outlook for 2023 

Leucid expects to file a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) to initiate the First in Human (FiH) clinical trial of its Lateral CAR Platform in multiple programmes through Phase I/II clinical trials in H1 2023, with the aim of dosing patients by H2 2023. 

 

Following a successful £11.5 million Series A fundraise in 2021 Leucid is now looking to raise a Series B round to finance the pivot from pre-clinical to clinical development. 

 

Ian Miscampbell, Interim Executive Chairman at Leucid Bio, said: “Leucid Bio is in an exciting phase of expansion as we progress to first in human Proof-of-Concept for our novel Lateral CAR Platform in multiple programmes. John was the first to engineer and develop CD28-based second generation CAR technology in human T-cells 20 years ago, and has continued to innovate in the field as one of its acknowledged experts ever since.  Our proprietary platform has been built around his ground breaking research.” 

 

-ENDS- 

For more information please contact: 

 

Optimum Strategic Communications 

Hollie Vile, Vici Rabbetts, Eleanor Cooper 

Tel: +44 (0) 208 078 4357 

Email: leucid@optimumcomms.com 

 

About Leucid Bio 

Leucid Bio is a biotech company developing cell therapies for refractory cancers, especially solid tumours. Leucid was founded to translate 20 years of pioneering CAR-T research led by Dr John Maher at King's College London (KCL), Leucid Bio has developed a proprietary portfolio based upon Dr Maher’s novel approach, in which the CAR structure has been redesigned to recapitulate the lateral distribution of signalling domains as observed in natural immune receptors. The technology gives properties to the CAR-Ts that enable them to consistently outperform previous generations of CAR-T therapies in pre-clinical studies; enhancing T-cell potency and generating a persistent long-term response with reduced toxicity.  

Leucid, based in London, UK with its headquarters and clinical lab facilities situated at Guy's Hospital, leverages state-of-the-art GMP manufacturing in the Capital, to stay committed to its patient-centric approach on developing better cell therapies for the benefit of individuals with hard-to-treat solid tumours.   

 

About John Maher 

John Maher is the Scientific Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Leucid Bio and has worked on CAR T-cell immunotherapy, with a primary focus on solid tumours, for over 20 years.  The first to engineer and develop CD28-based second generation CAR technology in human T-cells, John also leads the "CAR Mechanics" research group at King's College London. He played a key role in the early development of second generation (CD28) CAR technology while a visiting fellow in the lab of Michel Sadelain at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, an approach that has achieved significant clinical impact in haematological malignancies. His research group is focused on the development of adoptive immunotherapy using CAR engineered and gamma delta T-cells, with a primary emphasis on solid tumour types. He is Chief Investigator of a Phase 1 clinical trial in which panErbB-specific CAR T-cells are administered to patients with relapsed/ refractory head and neck cancer. John holds an FRCPath in Immunology (by examination) from Royal College of Pathologists and is registered on the General Medical Council specialist register of Clinical Immunologists. He is also a Consultant Immunologist at Eastbourne Hospital. 

Bus Update 1
Targets reviews

Two newly published review articles in which our colleagues appraise candidate targets for CAR T-cell immunotherapy of solid tumours using clinical and pre-clinical data

Our colleagues, Dr. John Maher (CSO) and Dr. Marc Davies (VP CAR Engineering), have published two comprehensive review papers on the selection of target candidates for CAR T-cell immunotherapy in the treatment of solid tumours. These papers provide valuable insights and are expected to generate lively discussions in the field. By reading these papers, you can stay up-to-date and ahead of the curve on the latest research in solid cancer CAR-T therapy. The papers are a must-read for anyone interested in this exciting and rapidly evolving area of medicine.

CAR Based Immunotherapy of Solid Tumours - A Clinically Based Review of Target Antigens

London UK, 10 March 2023

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by Dr John Maher and Dr Marc Davies

Biology 2023, 12(2), 287

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Cancer accounts for an increasing number of deaths year on year. However, new immune-based therapies offer promise in the quest to address this unmet need. One approach entails the use of immune white blood cells (usually collected from the patient themselves) and introducing a genetic blueprint that enables these cells to identify and attack cancer cells. These so-called “CAR cells” have proven to be very effective in the treatment of blood cancers. However, solid tumours (which account for 90% of all cancers) are proving more difficult to treat with this approach. One of the key challenges is identifying targets that clearly distinguish between cancer cells and normal, healthy tissue. Here, we have surveyed targets that have been selected for clinical testing of CAR cells in the context of clinical trials.

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Read the full article.

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biology-12-00287-ag.png

Graphical Abstract

CAR-Based Immunotherapy of Solid Tumours - A Survey of the Emerging Targets

London UK, 10 March 2023

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by Dr John Maher and Dr Marc Davies

Cancers 2023, 15(4),  1171

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A rapidly emerging new approach to treat cancer involves collection of patient immune white blood cells and genetic re-programming of the cells to express a new cancer-detecting receptor called a CAR. This approach has revolutionized the treatment of some blood cancers, whereas solid tumours, which account for 90% of all cancers, are proving much more difficult to treat using this approach. A major challenge in this respect relates to the identification of targets that differentiate cancer from healthy cells. In a partner review, we consider clinical data already collected when CAR technology has been applied against solid tumours that express 30 different targets. Here, we explore emerging candidates for which such clinical data are not available yet, but where other data provide information about potential suitability as future clinical targets.

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Read the full article.

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pCAR interview March 22

pCAR technology: an interview with John Maher

London UK, 25 March 2022

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RegMedNet spoke with John Maher (Chief Scientific Officer at Leucid Bio) about his research in CAR T-cell therapy. He updated on Leucid Bio’s development and discussed pCAR, a revolutionary kind of CAR therapy designed to combat solid tumors.​

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Read the article and interview on RegMedNet's website. 

RMN.jpg
pCAR

Leucid Bio Chief Scientific Officer John Maher publishes new research on pCAR technology

  • New data highlight the strength and versatility of Leucid’s proprietary, next-generation technology

  • pCAR has now achieved proof-of-concept across a range of co-stimulatory domains, binders, targets and target combinations in pre-clinical liquid and solid tumour cell lines/models

  • John Maher has been an early pioneer of CAR T-cell immunotherapy with a focus on solid tumours

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London, UK – 16 March 2022 – Leucid Bio (“Leucid” or the “Company”), a biotech company pioneering next-generation cell therapies for hard-to-treat cancers, today notes the publication of two studies in Cell Reports Medicine  and Frontiers in Immunology co-authored by its Chief Scientific Officer John Maher.

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The research reinforces the conclusion that Leucid’s leading technology, parallel CAR (pCAR), has now achieved proof-of-concept across a range of co-stimulatory domains, binders, targets and target combinations in pre-clinical liquid and solid tumour cell lines/models. Professor Maher’s technical and scientific expertise in advancing CARs that harness lessons of nature to deliver greater functional persistence is a key driver behind Leucid’s technology platform. Leucid’s LEU-011 programme is a NKG2D-targeted pCAR T-cell therapy in pre-clinical development for the treatment of solid tumours and haematological malignancies. LEU-011 has potential for the treatment of multiple cancer types as NKG2D ligands are expressed on more than 80% of human tumour cells.

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John Maher, Chief Scientific Officer of Leucid Bio, noted: “Our findings confirm that Juxta-membrane localisation is required for effective CAR-mediated co-stimulation and that our proprietary resulting pCAR configurations promote functional persistence of T-cells. As a result, pCAR T-cells have a role in mediating enhanced anti-tumour activity. The data also reinforces the evidence that our pCAR platform delivers enhanced anti-tumour activity through effective provision of dual co-stimulation. pCAR has now been proven across a range of constructs and targets and Leucid is in a leading position to leverage these findings.”

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Artin Moussavi, Chief Executive Officer of Leucid Bio, added: “John’s latest research provides further evidence of the great potential of pCAR and these papers and the accompanying work underpin the activities of the Company and especially the imminent clinical trial. John has been a pioneer in the CAR-T space for decades, and his prolific publication record speaks volumes to his prominence in the field. These recently published studies highlight the strength of the translational research done at John’s CAR Mechanics research group and Leucid Bio. I am honored to work with John in translating his findings into patient-driven outcomes.”

 

John Maher has been an early pioneer of CAR T-cell immunotherapy with 100 research papers published over the last three decades. He developed a novel CAR structure, pCAR, in which two co-stimulatory domains are integrated in parallel across the cell membrane. This formation replicates the natural side-by-side position of these molecules across the cell membrane that is seen in endogenous immune receptors. The resulting pCAR T-cells consistently outperform previous generations of CAR T-cells. Professor Maher also worked on the adapter CAR which simulates the configuration adopted by many naturally occurring immune receptors in which the binding and signalling domains are physically separated onto two or more proteins. Leucid’s experience has been that this architecture is also compatible with the engineering of CARs with substantial anti-tumour activity.

 

The recently published papers are as follows:

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Designed pCARs to evaluate whether effective dual co-stimulation requires juxta-membrane positioning of endodomain components within separate synthetic receptors. The study demonstrated that the pCAR platform optimally harnesses synergistic and tumour-dependent co-stimulation to resist T-cell exhaustion and senescence, sustaining proliferation, cytokine release, cytokine signalling, and metabolic fitness upon repeated stimulation. When engineered using targeting moieties of diverse composition, affinity, and specificity, pCAR T-cells consistently elicit superior anti-tumour activity compared with T-cells that express traditional linear CARs.

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Evaluated dual co-stimulation through pCAR architecture using CD28-containing second generation CAR and co-expressing with a 4-1BB containing chimeric co-stimulatory receptor. These CAR and pCAR T-cells were engineered to specifically target CD19 and demonstrated a broad range of CD19 binding ability and avidity for CD19-expressing tumour cells, a significant enhancement of tumour re-stimulation potential and IL-2 release as well as reduced exhaustion marker expression and enhanced therapeutic efficacy when compared to second generation CARs.

 

-ENDS-

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About Leucid Bio

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Leucid Bio is a pioneering biotech company developing cell therapies for refractory cancers, especially solid tumours. Leucid was founded to translate 20 years of King's College London (King’s) research in the CAR-T field and is led by a highly experienced management team with both scientific and commercial expertise. As part of Leucid’s ongoing relationship with King’s, it benefits from exclusive access to and resources from the deep scientific, clinical and manufacturing expertise of John Maher and his academic team of immuno-oncology experts. Leucid is headquartered in London, UK, with operations based at Guy’s Hospital with its own GMP manufacturing and clinical lab facilities, enabling it to maintain its patient-centric focus on developing better cell therapies for the benefit of individuals with hard-to-treat solid tumours. 

 

About John Maher

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John Maher is the Scientific Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Leucid Bio and has worked on CAR T-cell immunotherapy, with a primary focus on solid tumors, for over 20 years.  The first to engineer and develop CD28-based second generation CAR technology in human T-cells, John also leads the "CAR Mechanics" research group at King's College London. He played a key role in the early development of second generation (CD28) CAR technology while a visiting fellow in the lab of Michel Sadelain at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, an approach that has achieved significant clinical impact in hematological malignancies. His research group is focused on the development of adoptive immunotherapy using CAR engineered and gamma delta T-cells, with a primary emphasis on solid tumor types. He is Chief Investigator of a Phase 1 clinical trial in which panErbB-specific CAR T-cells are administered to patients with relapsed/ refractory head and neck cancer. John holds an FRCPath in Immunology (by examination) from Royal College of Pathologists and is registered on the General Medical Council specialist register of Clinical Immunologists. He is also a Consultant Immunologist at Eastbourne Hospital.

Lonza1

Leucid Bio and Lonza Enter Strategic Collaboration to Leverage the Cocoon® Platform for Automated Manufacturing of Personalised CAR T-Cells

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  • Leucid will work with Lonza on the Cocoon® Platform for Leucid Bio’s Phase I/II clinical studies with its lead candidate, LEU-011, for the treatment of platinum resistant ovarian cancer

  • Leucid will utilise the Cocoon® Platform through to commercial manufacturing

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London, UK – 2 December 2021 – Leucid Bio (“Leucid” or the “Company”), a biotech company pioneering next-generation cell therapies for hard-to-treat cancers, today announces that it has entered a strategic collaboration with Lonza to utilize Lonza’s Cocoon® Platform for the Company’s forthcoming Phase I clinical trial, through to commercial manufacturing.

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Under the terms of the collaboration, Leucid will utilise Lonza as its preferred manufacturer, aiming to deliver high quality cell therapies quickly and cost-effectively to patients in a decentralized manufacturing model. Leucid is, in turn, one of Lonza’s preferred collaborators on the Cocoon® Platform, and both companies will work together to optimise and streamline the manufacturing process for Leucid’s CAR-T therapies.  As a preferred collaborator, Leucid will have early access to new Cocoon® Platform technologies.

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Founded to translate 20 years of pioneering CAR-T research led by Dr John Maher at King’s College London, Leucid has developed a proprietary engine that builds upon Dr Maher’s novel parallel CAR-T model which positions these molecules in a more natural biological configuration. The Company’s technology confers properties on the CART-cells that enable them to consistently outperform previous generations of CAR-T therapies in pre-clinical studies. As a result, this leads to enhanced T-cell potency and persistent long-term response with reduced toxicity.

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Artin Moussavi, Chief Executive Officer of Leucid Bio, said: “Following on from our successful Series A financing, we are delighted to be working with Lonza and its Cocoon® Platform. This agreement will allow us to accelerate our path to the clinic, treating more patients sooner, potentially at point-of-care, and help to solve the key issues facing CAR-T therapeutics.”

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John Maher, Chief Scientific Officer of Leucid Bio, added: “This is a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with Lonza, enabling us to develop a state-of-the-art scalable manufacturing process. This will significantly help Leucid to efficiently transition our CAR-T pipeline for maximum patient benefit.”

 

Nicholas Ostrout, Head of Commercial Development within Personalized Medicine at Lonza, commented: “We look forward to working with Leucid to bring its revolutionary, novel cancer immunotherapies to the clinic and patients. Use of the Cocoon® Platform, coupled with the array of process development, manufacturing expertise and tools that Lonza brings, will provide a smooth route to commercial approval. By leveraging the Cocoon Platform’s unique capabilities, this collaboration aims to illustrate the promise and feasibility of manufacturing autologous immunotherapies in a decentralized model, into approved routine use.”

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CAR T-cell therapy is a revolutionary technology in which the patient’s own immune cells are reprogrammed so they can recognise and destroy cancer cells. This has proven to be a powerful therapy for refractory blood cancers, but has not yet been very effective for the treatment of solid tumours.

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Leucid’s LEU-011 programme is a NKG2D-targeted CAR T-cell therapy in pre-clinical development for the treatment of solid tumours and haematological malignancies. The NKG2D receptor is an activating immune receptor that triggers cell death upon recognition of human NKG2D ligands expressed on transformed, infected or damaged cells. LEU-011 has potential for the treatment of multiple cancer types as NKG2D ligands are expressed on more than 80% of human tumour cells.

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-ENDS-

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About Leucid Bio

 

Leucid Bio is a pioneering biotech company developing cell therapies for refractory cancers, especially solid tumours. Leucid was founded to translate 20 years of King's College London (King’s) research in the CAR-T field and is led by a highly experienced management team with both scientific and commercial expertise. As part of Leucid’s ongoing relationship with King’s, it benefits from exclusive access to and resources from the deep scientific, clinical and manufacturing expertise of Dr Maher and his academic team of immuno-oncology experts.

Leucid is headquartered in London, UK, with operations based at Guy’s Hospital with its own GMP manufacturing and clinical lab facilities, enabling it to maintain its patient-centric focus on developing better cell therapies for the benefit of individuals with hard-to-treat solid tumours. 

 

About the Cocoon® Platform

 

The Cocoon® Platform is a closed, automated system for patient-scale cell therapy manufacturing. Highly customisable and scalable, it integrates multiple steps and streamlines cell processing workflows from patient sample to final product. Protocols including isolation, activation, transduction/transfection, expansion and harvest occur in a climate controlled, validated cell manufacturing system.

 

About Lonza

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Lonza is the preferred global partner to the pharmaceutical, biotech and nutrition markets. We work to prevent illness and enable a healthier world by supporting our customers to deliver new and innovative medicines that help treat a wide range of diseases. We achieve this by combining technological insight with world-class manufacturing, scientific expertise and process excellence. These enable our customers to commercialize their discoveries and innovations in the healthcare sector.

Founded in 1897 in the Swiss Alps, today Lonza operates across five continents. With approximately 14,000 full-time employees, we are built from high-performing teams and of individual talent who make a meaningful difference to our own business, as well as to the communities in which we operate. The company generated sales of CHF 4.5 billion in 2020 with a CORE EBITDA of CHF 1.4 billion. Find out more at www.lonza.com.

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Joint Development Agreement with 4basebio PLC for novel CAR T-cell production methods

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23 November 2021

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4basebio PLC (AIM: 4BB), the specialist life sciences group focused on exploiting intellectual property in the field of cell and gene therapies and DNA vaccines, is pleased to announce a Joint Development Agreement (“JDA”) between its wholly owned subsidiary 4basebio Discovery Limited and Leucid Bio Limited, a biotech company pioneering next-generation Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell (“CAR-T”) Therapies  for hard-to-treat cancers.

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CAR-T therapy is an ex-vivo cell therapy which involves genetically reprogramming a patient’s T-cells to recognise and destroy cancer cells. While current practice relies on integrating viral vectors to deliver the genetic payloads to generate the CAR T-cells, non-viral based approaches, such as MaxCyte’s electroporation technology, are gaining popularity given their scalability, improved safety profile and flexibility in delivering payloads aimed at creating allogeneic, off-the-shelf CAR T-cells.

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Under the JDA, the companies will evaluate the use of 4basebio’s Hermes™ non-viral nanoparticle and synthetic hpDNATM technology for enhanced delivery of genetic payloads to generate CART-cells. The successful outcome of this project will pave the way for development of a novel, high-performance and more cost-effective cell engineering method for CAR-T products.

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Leucid Bio recently closed a £11.5m Series A financing round to progress its ongoing development of next generation CAR-T therapies. The company’s pCAR technology gives properties to the cells that enable them to consistently outperform previous generations of CAR-T therapies in pre-clinical studies.

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Dr Heikki Lanckriet, CEO and CSO for 4basebio, said: “We are very excited to be working with Leucid Bio, a pioneer in next-generation CAR-T therapies, in developing a novel cell engineering approach for CAR-T products.”

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Artin Moussavi, CEO of Leucid Bio, said: “We are delighted to be working with 4basebio in developing a safer, more scalable cell engineering process for the generation of allogeneic CAR-T therapies using their innovative Hermes™ non-viral delivery platform.”



Notes to Editors

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About 4basebio

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4basebio (AIM: 4BB) is a specialist life sciences group focused on therapeutic DNA for cell and gene therapies and DNA vaccines and providing solutions for effective and safe delivery of these DNA based products to patients. It is the intention of the Company to become a market leader in the manufacture and supply of high purity, synthetic DNA for research, therapeutic and pharmacological use and develop non-viral vectors for the efficient delivery of payloads. The immediate objectives of 4bb are to validate and scale its DNA synthesis and advance its collaborations to facilitate the functional validation of its DNA based products and cell and gene delivery solutions.

 

About Leucid Bio

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Leucid Bio is a pioneering biotech company developing cell therapies for refractory cancers, especially solid tumours. Leucid was founded to translate 20 years of King's College London (King’s) research in the CAR-T field and is led by a highly experienced management team with both scientific and commercial expertise. As part of Leucid’s ongoing relationship with King’s, it benefits from exclusive access to and resources from the deep scientific, clinical and manufacturing expertise of Dr Maher and his academic team of immuno-oncology experts.

Leucid is headquartered in London, UK, with operations based at Guy’s Hospital with its own GMP manufacturing and clinical lab facilities, enabling it to maintain its patient-centric focus on developing better cell therapies for the benefit of individuals with hard-to-treat solid tumours. 

 

Forward-looking statements

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This announcement may contain certain statements about the future outlook for the 4basebio.  Although the directors believe their expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any statements about future outlook may be influenced by factors that could cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different.

4BB JDA

Leucid Bio Raises £11.5M in Series A Financing to Develop Next Generation of Innovative Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell (CAR-T) Therapies

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London, UK – 21 October 2021 - Leucid Bio (“Leucid” or the “Company”), a biotech company pioneering next-generation cell therapies for hard-to-treat cancers, today announces that it has successfully raised £11.5 million in a Series A financing round. The investment was led by Epidarex and new investor Vulpes Investment Management, with participation from new investors 2Invest and Future Fund of the British Business Bank, and existing investor Sofinnova Partners. Proceeds from the financing will be used to initiate a Phase 1 trial of its lead candidate, LEU-011, for the treatment of platinum resistant ovarian cancer.

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CAR T-cell therapy is a revolutionary technology in which the patient’s own immune cells are reprogrammed so they can recognise and destroy cancer cells. This has proven to be a powerful therapy for refractory blood cancers but has not yet been very effective for the treatment of solid cancers.

​

Leucid was founded to translate 20 years of pioneering CAR-T research led by Dr John Maher at King's College London who joined the Company from inception as its Chief Scientific Officer. Leucid has developed a proprietary engine that builds upon Dr Maher’s novel CAR-T model which develops CAR-T molecules designed to be in a more natural biological configuration of cells.  The early development work was supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Guy’s and St Thomas’ Biomedical Research Centre. The Company’s technology gives properties to the CAR-Ts that enable them to consistently outperform previous generations of CAR-T therapies in pre-clinical studies; enhancing T-cell potency and generating a persistent long-term response with reduced toxicity.

​

Leucid’s LEU-011 programme is a NKG2D CAR T-cell therapy in pre-clinical development for the treatment of solid tumours and haematological malignancies. The NKG2D receptor is an activating immune receptor that triggers cell death upon recognition of human NKG2D ligands expressed on transformed, infected or damaged cells. LEU-011 has potential for the treatment of multiple cancer types as NKG2D ligands are expressed on more than 80% of human tumour cells.

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In conjunction with the Series A financing, Ian Miscampbell, Managing Partner of Sixth Element Capital LLP, has been appointed Chair of the Board, while Martin Diggle, Portfolio Manager of Vulpes Life Science Fund will join the Board of Directors as Non-Executive Director, and Heikki Lanckriet as Board Observer for 2Invest. Epidarex’s Peter Finan currently sits on the Board as Investment Director, and Graziano Seghezzi, Managing Partner of Sofinnova, and Michael Garrison, Director at King’s College London remain as Observers to the Board.

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Artin Moussavi, Chief Executive Officer of Leucid Bio, said: “We are excited to welcome new investors to Leucid Bio. With support from this high calibre syndicate, the financing will enable us to progress our lead programme, LEU-011, into clinical development. At Leucid we are developing improved CAR-T technologies aimed to overcome key challenges in CAR T-cell therapy for solid tumours, to improve treatment outcomes and save the lives of cancer patients, where current treatments are not currently proving to be as clinically meaningful as required.”

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Ian Miscampbell, Chair of Leucid Bio’s Board of Directors, commented: “I am delighted to be joining as Chair of this trail-blazing Company as it moves into the clinical development phase, developing novel CAR-T therapies for patients who do not currently have a treatment option. I have been impressed by the excellent work achieved by the Leucid team and am excited to establish Leucid as a leading next generation CAR-T company.”

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Peter Finan, Partner at Epidarex Capital, said: “The new financing will allow us to explore Leucid’s ground-breaking technology in a clinical setting. We remain optimistic that with the right therapeutic approach, the challenges for CAR-T therapy in a solid tumour setting can be overcome. We look forward to working closely with the Leucid team and our co-investors to realise the potential of Leucid’s technology.”

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Martin Diggle, Principal at Vulpes Life Sciences, stated: “After performing extensive scientific due diligence, Vulpes is delighted to cornerstone this important fundraise to enable Leucid to advance its exciting cancer therapies. We believe Professor John Maher's team has one of the most promising approaches to treating solid tumours in the world today and we are excited by the possibilities of its CAR-T research to date.”

 

-ENDS-

 

About Leucid Bio

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Leucid Bio is a pioneering biotech company developing cell therapies for refractory cancers, especially solid tumours. Leucid was founded to translate 20 years of King's College London (King’s) research in the CAR-T field and is led by a highly experienced management team with both scientific and commercial expertise. As part of Leucid’s ongoing relationship with King’s, it benefits from exclusive access to and resources from the deep scientific, clinical and manufacturing expertise of Dr Maher and his academic team of immuno-oncology experts.

​

Leucid is headquartered in London, UK, with operations based at Guy’s Hospital with its own GMP manufacturing and clinical lab facilities, enabling it to maintain its patient-centric focus on developing better cell therapies for the benefit of individuals with hard-to-treat solid tumours. 

 

About Epidarex Capital

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Epidarex Capital is a transatlantic venture capital firm with a track record of building exceptional life science companies in emerging hubs in the US and UK. Epidarex’s experienced team of early stage investors partner with entrepreneurs and leading research institutions to transform world-class science into highly innovative products addressing major unmet needs in the global healthcare market." For more information, visit www.epidarex.com.

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About Vulpes Investment Management

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Vulpes Investment Management Pte Ltd is a Singapore fund management company backed by a single family office, seeking alternative investment opportunities with a focus on long term value creation and alignment of interests with our Entrepreneurs and Investors.  The Vulpes Life Science Fund is a co-investment fund that invests in companies that possess superior cutting-edge technology. The fund gives exposure to “best in class” technologies in the field of regenerative medicine. For more information, visit www.vulpesinvest.com

 

About 2Invest

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2Invest AG (2Invest) is an investment company listed on the Frankfurt market formed in 2020 from the restructuring of businesses of 4basebio AG.  Our investment objective is primarily but not exclusively to identify and support emerging companies with both strong management teams and ground-breaking technologies in the biotechnology, life sciences and IT sectors. Our ambition is to enable those companies to reach new and meaningful value inflexion points. www.2invest-AG.com

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About Sofinnova Partners

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Sofinnova Partners is a leading European venture capital firm in life sciences, specialising in healthcare and sustainability. Based in Paris, London and Milan, the firm brings together a team of professionals from all over the world with strong scientific, medical and business expertise. Sofinnova Partners is a hands-on company builder across the entire value chain of life sciences investments, from seed to later-stage. The firm actively partners with ambitious entrepreneurs as a lead or cornerstone investor to develop transformative innovations that have the potential to positively impact our collective future.

Founded in 1972, Sofinnova Partners is a deeply-established venture capital firm in Europe, with 50 years of experience backing over 500 companies and creating market leaders around the globe. Today, Sofinnova Partners has over €2 billion under management. For more information, please visit: www.sofinnovapartners.com

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About The Future Fund

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The Future Fund was established to support the UK’s innovative businesses affected by Covid-19. These businesses were unable to access other government business support programmes, such as CBILS, because they are either pre-revenue or pre-profit and typically rely on equity investment. The Future Fund, now closed to new applications, provided UK-based companies with convertible loans, on the condition that third-party investors at least match the Government’s commitment. The convertible loans are designed to convert into equity at the next equity funding round. The Future Fund was developed by government and delivered by the British Business Bank.

 

About King's College London

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King's College London is one of the top 35 UK universities in the world and one of the top 10 in Europe (QS World University Rankings, 2020/21) and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 31,000 students (including more than 12,800 postgraduates) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 8,500 staff.

 

King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), eighty-four per cent of research at King’s was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*).

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Since our foundation, King’s students and staff have dedicated themselves in the service of society. King’s will continue to focus on world-leading education, research and service, and will have an increasingly proactive role to play in a more interconnected, complex world. Visit our website to find out more about Vision 2029, King's strategic vision to take the university to the 200th anniversary of its founding.

World-changing ideas. Life-changing impact: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/

 

About NIHR Guy’s and St Thomas’ Biomedical Research Centre

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National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BCR) is a partnership between Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. It is a part of the King’s Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. For more information, please visit: https://www.guysandstthomasbrc.nihr.ac.uk/

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