Altor BioScience Awarded $3 MM SBIR Bridge Grant by NCI to Advance Clinical Trials for its Targeted Cancer Therapeutic ALT-801
MIRAMAR, Fla.--(
BUSINESS WIRE)-- Altor BioScience Corporation announced today that it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II Bridge Grant by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The award of $3 MM over three years will help Altor further its clinical development of ALT-801, a novel tumor-targeted immunotherapeutic designed to improve the efficacy and safety of the FDA-approved anticancer cytokine, interleukin-2 (IL-2). This funding will initially be used to support a clinical trial with a novel biochemotherapy regimen of ALT-801 with cisplatin in patients with metastatic melanoma. Altor also plans to use the funding to launch other clinical trials for ALT-801 in renal cell carcinoma, head & neck cancer and prostate cancer. In a recently completed Phase I/IIa trial, certain patients with these cancers were found to benefit from treatment with ALT-801.
NCI’s pilot SBIR Phase II Bridge Award is intended to further support previously funded SBIR Phase II projects to accelerate the development of new cancer therapies and imaging devices along the path toward commercialization. Selection for Phase II Bridge Awards is based both on scientific and technical merits as well as the commercialization potential of the technology.
Hing Wong, PhD, Altor's CEO commented, "Altor is extremely pleased to receive this award from NCI. This award not only enables Altor to advance ALT-801 into Phase II efficacy studies without the help of a corporate partner, but it also validates the concept of using our proprietary targeting technology to improve the efficacy and safety of clinically proven drugs for treatment of cancer and viral infections. We appreciate the continued grant support from the NCI and FDA, which has helped advance ALT-801 from the research and development stage into clinical studies.”
About ALT-801
ALT-801 is composed of IL-2 genetically fused to a soluble T-cell receptor (TCR) directed against a p53-derived tumor associated antigen. Altor’s approach uses the TCR to guide IL-2 bioactivity to the tumor site, where the cytokine-stimulated immune system attacks the cancerous cells. In preclinical testing, tumor-targeted delivery of IL-2 improves efficacy and lessens toxicity of standard IL-2 treatment. In early phase clinical testing in patients with metastatic malignancies, ALT-801 was well tolerated at a level that provides clinical benefits. This completed Phase I/IIa clinical trial was supported in part by a grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Orphan Products Development Grant Program. Additional information on this trial (NCT00496860) can be found at clinicaltrials.gov.
About Altor BioScience
Altor is a privately held biotechnology company developing targeted immunotherapies for treating cancer, viral infections, and inflammatory diseases based on its proprietary, integrated technologies for creating soluble TCRs. Altor currently has three product candidates at mid and late phases of clinical development. Visit
www.altorbioscience.com for details.
Contact: Altor BioScience Corporation, Miramar
Peter Rhode, PhD, 954-443-8600
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