In another biotech born out of China’s “NewCo” model, cAMPfield Therapeutics has launched with a $180 million series A and a focus on oral medicines for inflammatory diseases.
The San Diego-based company boasts a star-studded investor list, including its founder, Mountainfield Venture Partners. The latest funding round was led by Frazier Life Sciences with contribution from Deep Track Capital, Forbion, Abingworth, Venrock, Longitude Capital, Novo Holdings and RA Capital.
The money will help advance cAMPfield’s lead candidate, prifemilast (HY1999/HPP737), for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The company is launching a global phase 2b trial in moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis and a global phase 2 in Crohn’s disease.
The startup licensed the drug’s ex-China rights from China’s Newsoara Biopharma, which itself initially gained China rights to the phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4) inhibitor in 2018 from vTv Therapeutics. In a move that paved the way for cAMPfield’s formation, Newsoara bought remaining rights to the drug for $20 million upfront in February.
PDE4 inhibition is a well-established approach in certain inflammatory diseases. The enzyme, expressed in various immune-related cells, degrades cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), which is involved in regulating inflammatory pathways. Blocking PDE4 therefore increases intracellular cAMP, which in turn could reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines while promoting anti-inflammatory cytokines.
The mechanism is used in multiple marketed therapies for various inflammatory diseases, including Amgen’s oral psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis med Otezla, Pfizer’s not-so-popular eczema cream Eucrisa, as well as roflumilast, which is used as a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) therapy in AstraZeneca’s oral Daliresp and as a topical formulation in Arcutis’ skin disorder drug Zoryve.
However, systemic PDE4 inhibition has been linked to side effects involving the gastrointestinal track such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, which may get worse for patients who already suffer from IBD, an inflammation of the digestive tract.
Prifemilast has shown more selective inhibition of PDE4B, which is associated with beneficial anti-inflammatory effects, versus PDE4D, which is believed to contribute to dose-limiting adverse effects, according to cAMPfield.
So far, more than 700 individuals have received prifemilast in clinical trials, including more than 250 with a year of exposure. The drug has shown treatment discontinuation rates that are comparable to a placebo, as well as “robust efficacy” in a phase 3 trial—presumably in China—for plaque psoriasis, cAMPfield said in a June 18 press release.
“Taken together, the extensive clinical experience with prifemilast supports its potential to deliver the combination of efficacy, tolerability, and convenience needed to establish a new standard of care in IBD,” the company said in its release.
The drug’s prospects have apparently attracted several industry veterans as cAMPfield's co-founders. They include Asit Parikh, who led the development of Takeda’s star IBD injection Entyvio; Keith Usiskin, who previously headed up development of Otezla and Zeposia for IBD at Celgene and Bristol Myers Squibb; and Mark Stenhouse, who once held responsibility for Humira commercialization at AbbVie.
The company is currently led by Bill Gerhart as CEO. A senior advisor for Mountainfield, Gerhart previously served as CEO of several “vants” under the Roivant umbrella. Elevation Pharmaceuticals—not to be confused with Elevation Oncology—a COPD drug developer he founded and served as CEO at, was sold to Sunovion in 2012.
As for Mountainfield, the VC firm forms new companies around in-licensed drug candidates. cAMPfield isn’t the first China NewCo it built. Last year, it launched Timberlyne Therapeutics, also with a $180 million series A, plus an anti-CD38 antibody licensed from China’s Keymed Biosciences.