Pin­cer move­ment: Cal­i­for­nia biotech gets $35M to suf­fo­cate can­cer in co­or­di­nat­ed at­tack

Hav­ing served in Afghanistan, the navy vet­er­an lead­ing Cal­i­for­nia-based Epi­cen­tRx wants to leave no pa­tient be­hind with his ar­se­nal of an­ti-can­cer drugs. On Thurs­day, the com­pa­ny was giv­en a $35 mil­lion boost to fur­ther its mis­sion.

The in­jec­tion of funds will be used to shep­herd its late-stage CD47 drug, RRx-001, to the FDA for mar­ket­ing, and its on­colyt­ic virus pro­gram in­to the clin­ic.

RRx-001, en­gi­neered as an agent that makes tu­mor cells more sen­si­tive to ther­a­py, is in a Phase III tri­al in com­bi­na­tion with chemother­a­py for use in third-line and be­yond small cell lung can­cer (SCLC). The drug has been grant­ed or­phan drug des­ig­na­tion from FDA for SCLC, neu­roen­docrine can­cer and glioblas­toma.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER