Tocagen shoots for $86 million IPO, spotlighting a high-risk shot at a quick OK for brain cancer therapy
A couple of weeks after Tocagen nabbed the FDA’s breakthrough therapy designation for a new treatment for recurring brain cancer, the San Diego-based biotech is trying its hand at an $86 million IPO.
The biotech has gathered some Phase I results for a therapy dubbed Toca 511 & Toca FC. Toca 511 uses a vector to deliver a gene therapy to cancer cells in the brain which converts Toca FC into the cancer agent 5-FU. When it kills cancer cells, they release antigens that then spark an immune response to help amp up the effect of the therapy, according to the company’s S-1.
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