Marengo Therapeutics now has the horsepower to take its first drug into battle against cancer in a phase 1 trial next year. The biotech, led by former Merck KGaA global oncology leader Zhen Su, M.D., is emerging with $80 million from incubator ATP.
History buffs might recognize Marengo as Napoleon Bonaparte's horse in the battle of the same name in 1800. Now, 221 years later, CEO Su and Marengo are venturing into their own battle against a crop of cancers the biotech thinks can be selectively targeted by boosting T cells that destroy tumors.
The financing from Apple Tree Partners, the life sciences VC shop where Marengo's platform was discovered, will bankroll at least one study from Marengo's pipeline of antibodies that target Vb T cell receptor (TCR) variants, Su said in an interview with Fierce Biotech. The first study is slated for the fourth quarter of next year, and the molecule, dubbed STAR0602, will be tested in patients with advanced and metastatic solid tumor cancers.
After that first candidate gets into the clinic, Marengo aims to have its second and third programs in human trials within 12 to 18 months, Su said. The company's platform is a "plug-and-play" set up, Su said, enabling a quicker path to the clinic.
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The goal is to activate the right T cells; or, as Su analogizes it, using a hammer to hit the nail right on the head rather than missing from the side. Marengo's eyes might look beyond T cells, eventually, the CEO said, noting the biotech's learnings could be applied to nature killer cells and others, too.
And, Marengo's drug candidates can be delivered as a single agent. They don't need to be combined with existing or other investigational drugs, Su said. Su knows a thing or two about bringing drugs through clinical development. At Merck KGaA's EMD Serono, while chief medical officer, Su oversaw the FDA approvals of Bavencio in combination with Inlyta for renal cell carcinoma and Mavenclad for relapsing multiple sclerosis.
The horsepower behind Su's current car, a Volvo ("I do have a family"), isn't flashy, but it reflects the safety goal of Marengo's treatments, the CEO said. Su's first car, an '84 VW Bus, wasn't like the flashy cars in Fast & Furious, either.
In the driver's seat with Su are Chief Medical Officer Raj Chopra, Ph.D., and Chief Scientific Officer Andrew Bayliffe, Ph.D. Chopra is a veteran of Celgene, AstraZeneca and the Institute of Cancer Research in London, and Bayliffe previously led GlaxoSmithKline's fibrosis and lung injury discovery unit. Both are venture partners at ATP.
The initial financing will bankroll additional C-suite hires such as chief financial and business officers, Su said.