Melbourne-based start-up Currus Biologics has raised $10m to develop its cancer immunotherapy, which targets solid tumours such as breast and pancreatic cancers. The Medical Research Commercialisation Fund and university commercialisation fund Uniseed led the investment into the biotech, which was spun out of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
The funds will support Currus’ commercial development of its proprietary technology from animal studies into humans. Human clinical trials are about two years away. Currus is combining its proprietary Bispecific Engagers of Antigen Presenting Cells and T cells (BEAT) technology with CAR-T cells, which have proved revolutionary in treating advanced blood-borne cancers such as leukaemia and lymphoma, but less successful with solid tumours that make up 90% of all cancers. The BEAT is a bi-specific antibody.
Professor Michael Kershaw, head of the immune innovation laboratory at the Peter MacCallum Centre, said the cells all work in collaboration, a concept his team had worked on for more than a decade. “Our research findings in animal models indicate that one infusion of the treatment is expected to be effective in the treatment of solid tumours,” he added.
