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May 12, 2021

New Haven’s Cybrexa doses first patient in trial of tumor-targeting drug

PHOTO | File image Cybrexa President and CEO Per Hellsund
By Natalie Missakian

New Haven cancer biotech Cybrexa Therapeutics announced that it has dosed its first patient in a clinical trial of its experimental tumor-targeting drug.

The drug, called CBX-12, is the four-year-old company’s first to enter the human testing phase.

It aims to fight tumors with fewer toxic side effects by depositing powerful cancer-fighting agents directly into tumor cells. 

The first phase of the study will evaluate the drug in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors that have not responded to previous treatments, according to Cybrexa.

“As the first clinical trial for a drug candidate for our platform, the Phase 1 ∕ 2 trial of CBX-12 marks a major milestone for our company, as we seek to leverage our alphalex tumor-targeting platform to provide new treatment options for cancer patients,” CEO Per Hellsund said in a statement Monday.

The trial will potentially validate the safety and efficacy shown in animal studies, and establish the recommended dose for Phase 2 trials, the company said.

Two Phase 2 expansion cohorts will evaluate patients with small cell lung cancer and a form of ovarian cancer that is resistant to standard treatment.

Cybrexa, based at 5 Science Park, earlier this year raised $25 million in a Series B2 round to fund the trial, which was greenlighted by the FDA in March. 

The drug features a molecule developed at Yale University and the University of Rhode Island that forms a corkscrew-like structure when it comes into contact with the acidic environment of a cancer cell. 

The structure then drills into the tumor cell to deliver a highly potent cancer-fighting agent with precision, sparing healthy tissue. 

CBX-12 will use a topoisomerase 1 inhibitor, which is similar to the agent used in antibody-drug conjugates Enhertu and Trodelvy, which treat advanced breast cancers, Cybrexa said.

However, the company says its drug can target cancer cells regardless of whether they express a specific antigen (a substance that triggers an immune response in the body), giving it the potential to work on a broader array of patients. 

Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com

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