MENLO PARK, Calif., Sept. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Bullet Biotechnology, Inc., a company developing an active immunotherapy for B-cell lymphomas, announced that it completed the final close of its Series A financing in June, bringing the total amount raised since the company's founding in September 2011 to approximately $2.5 million. The additional Series A funding will be used to support additional preclinical research and to further prepare the company's active immunotherapy for an Investigational New Drug (IND) application.
The company also announced that preliminary in-vivo data from a study of several of its active immunotherapy product candidates in tumor-bearing mice demonstrated a significant survival advantage over control vaccinations. After reviewing the results, Ronald Levy, MD, Bullet Bio Clinical Advisory Board Member, said, "This animal experiment is very encouraging for Bullet's technology. It suggests that the Bullet idiotype vaccine is superior to the previous 'gold standard.'"
Bullet Bio's study using the 38C13 mouse model of lymphoma was conducted by Aragen Bioscience, Inc., headquartered in Morgan Hill, CA. In addition to the in-vivo proof of concept studies, Aragen also conducted the initial manufacturing process development and product characterization of Bullet Bio's idiotype vaccine. Bullet Bio and Aragen are continuing to further develop manufacturing and analytical methods for Bullet Bio's vaccine in preparation for clinical trials. Bullet Bio is continuing to analyze the results of the study while aggressively moving forward with Aragen on further preclinical in-vivo and in-vitro studies as manufacturing methods are prepared for clinical trials.
"I am very excited with our progress and with the investors we've added to the Bullet Bio family. Our vision is a world where patients have better options, where a finely targeted, personalized immunotherapy can be used instead of the carpet-bombing chemotherapy approach. We're working very hard to start clinical trials in 2015 to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product and ultimately get to patients as quickly as we can," said Willie Quinn, President & CEO of Bullet Bio.
About Active Immunotherapy in B-Cell Lymphomas
In 2013, nearly 70,000 patients will be diagnosed in the US and Europe with incurable B-cell lymphomas, including Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. More than 60% of CLL patients are asymptomatic when diagnosed, and the standard of care is to observe these patients until the severity of symptoms warrants treatment. Although modern drugs, including antibodies and kinase inhibitors, improve outcomes, mortality for B-cell lymphomas remains high. Standard treatment often leads to chemotherapy and is accompanied by infection, bleeding, fatigue and other side effects.
Bullet Bio is working to develop an active immunotherapy that would be safe enough to be given to asymptomatic patients and powerful enough to change the course of their disease by harnessing the power of their own immune system.
About Bullet Biotechnology
Bullet Biotechnology, Inc. is a privately-held biotechnology company researching and developing active immunotherapies for patients with cancers and autoimmune diseases. Bullet Bio's lead product, BB-001, is a fully personalized active immunotherapy that uses a unique marker on B-cell lymphoma cells, the idiotype protein, to train a patient's own immune system to target their cancer cells.
SOURCE Bullet Biotechnology