Pacmab raises funding, tackles multiple myeloma

Sydney monoclonal antibody therapeutics developer PacMab - which this week raised AUD$700,000 in equity funding -- is in the late stages of clinical pre-testing of a humanised monoclonal antibodies that binds to an antigen expressed exclusively by multiple myeloma cells.

The money was raised from venture capital company Symbion and sophisticated professional investors.

Multiple myeloma is one of the deadliest of the blood cancers. Patients eventually develop resistance to chemotherapy, and few survive beyond 18 months.

In its original murine form, the antibody, developed by Professor Bob Raison's research team at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), rapidly reverses the highly aggressive cancer in immunodeficient mice injected with human multiple myeloma cells.

It said the funds will assist development of the new monoclonal antibody. It is already preparing for Phase I and IIa clinical trials.

PacMab founder and CEO Alan Liddle, formerly CEO of Micromedical Industries (now Ventracor), said today that as soon as Raison's research group produced enough of the antibody, the company would begin a Phase I safety and tolerability trial in human volunteers.

"We have identified a specific epitope, uniquely represented on a B cell-like [peptide] chain, expressed by only multiple myeloma cells. There are no likely side effects that we know off."

Liddle said the chimeric, humanised antibody was now showing the same specificity.

"I've seen a lot of technology in my time, and I think this is special," he said.

"We hope to begin seeking interest from a big pharmaceutical company after Phase I, then license after Phase IIa."

PacMab has also received an AUD$120,000 Biotechnology Innovation Fund (BIF) grant from the Federal Government to develop a monoclonal antibody therapeutic for a blood cancer closely related to multiple myeloma, called Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia.

"There is a clear need for our products as there are no long-term effective treatments for these diseases, and conventional therapies can have severe side effects," said Liddle.