Oxford, 12th August 2020 – Celleron Therapeutics, the UK-based company developing novel medicines for cancer patients, today announced the signing of a licensing agreement with Roche providing Celleron exclusive world-wide rights for the clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization of emactuzumab. The closing is expected by end of 2020 after all conditions have been met.
This license agreement of emactuzumab demonstrates Celleron’s commitment to cancer medicine development and its transformational potential for patients inflicted with cancer. Emactuzumab is a monoclonal antibody designed to target and deplete macrophages in the tumor tissue. It has shown a favourable safety profile in patients and very encouraging efficacy for diffuse tenosynovial giant cell tumour (TGCT), a rare disease characterised by the proliferation of macrophages in the synovial tissue in the joint and tendon sheath.
Professor Nick La Thangue, Chief Executive Officer of Celleron Therapeutics, commented: “We are very excited to be working on emactuzumab. Celleron’s commitment to developing transformative and novel therapies will ultimately allow emactuzumab to be brought to patients suffering from TGCT, which remains a very debilitating disease with limited clinical options.”
About Celleron Therapeutics
Celleron Therapeutics is a biopharma advancing a clinical and pre-clinical pipeline of precision therapies for different cancer indications. The company is located on the Oxford Science Park, UK. Celleron Therapeutics has built a proprietary platform around epigenetic control and immune modulation, providing its drugs with a two-pronged attack on cancer. Celleron’s approach seeks to align the right drug with the right patient enabling a personalised approach to cancer therapy.
Celleron Therapeutics’ focus is on those cancers where there is still an unmet need for long-term disease control. It is hoped that not only will patients volunteering for our clinical trials benefit directly, but the results from these studies will ultimately allow the general use of more effective, safer medicines. Our goal is not only to treat cancer but improve quality of life during therapy by reduction of side effects.
Celleron has a global license partnership with Astra Zeneca for CXD101 and is also initiating new trials in China. The company secured investment in 2016 from a consortium of South Korean investors. For more information see www.cellerontherapeutics.com
About emactuzumab
Emactuzumab (RG7155) is an investigational monoclonal IgG1 antibody designed to target and deplete tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) in the tumour tissue. TAMs are an abundant component of the tumour microenvironment of many tumour types supporting tumorigenesis by suppressing the local immune system and promoting growth of tumour cells. Emactuzumab specifically targets TAMs by binding to colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF-1R) on the cell surface and blocking its activation by CSF-1. Emactuzumab therapy has been shown to significantly reduce CSF-1 dependent macrophages in tenosynovial giant cell tumour (TGCT) and in tumours of cancer patients.
About tenosynovial giant cell tumour
Tenosynovial giant cell tumour is a rare disease characterized by proliferation of synovial tissue in the joint and tendon sheath. The neoplastic process is driven by a specific genetic translocation leading to the overexpression of CSF-1 and a massive recruitment of CSF-1R-expressing macrophages that form the bulk tumorous mass. Even though the disease rarely metastasizes, it is locally aggressive and disabling. Patients are usually diagnosed at an age between 20 and 50 with equal sex distribution. Standard therapy is surgery but relapse rates are high. Patient’s quality of life is often impacted by tumour-related symptoms and surgical sequelae.