Key Takeaways
- cAMPfield Therapeutics has raised $180 million to develop oral medications for inflammatory diseases, focusing on prifemilast.
- The startup plans to initiate global phase 2b trials for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, utilizing funds from prominent investors.
- Prifemilast selectively inhibits PDE4B, potentially minimizing gastrointestinal side effects common with existing therapies.
Company Overview and Funding
cAMPfield Therapeutics, emerging from China’s “NewCo” model, has launched with $180 million in Series A funding aimed at developing oral medications for inflammatory diseases. Based in San Diego, the firm features a strong investor group, including Mountainfield Venture Partners and led by Frazier Life Sciences. Other contributors include Deep Track Capital, Forbion, Venrock, and Novo Holdings.
The capital will primarily support the advancement of the company’s lead medication, prifemilast (also known as HY1999/HPP737). This drug is being developed to treat inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), and cAMPfield plans to commence global phase 2b trials for moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis and phase 2 trials for Crohn’s disease.
Drug Development and Licensing
cAMPfield acquired the rights to prifemilast outside of China from Newsoara Biopharma, which had previously secured these rights in 2018 from vTv Therapeutics. Newsoara further consolidated its rights to the drug for $20 million, facilitating cAMPfield’s establishment.
Prifemilast acts as a phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4) inhibitor, an established target in inflammatory diseases. PDE4 regulates cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels, influencing inflammatory pathways. Inhibiting PDE4 can elevate intracellular cAMP levels, leading to reduced inflammatory cytokines.
Existing PDE4 inhibitors include Amgen’s Otezla for psoriasis and AstraZeneca’s Daliresp for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, systemic PDE4 inhibition can lead to gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea and diarrhea—issues particularly concerning for patients with IBD.
Clinical Trials and Efficacy
Prifemilast has exhibited more selective inhibition of PDE4B, potentially offering anti-inflammatory benefits while mitigating adverse gastrointestinal reactions associated with PDE4D inhibition. More than 700 individuals have participated in clinical trials involving prifemilast, with over 250 subjects experiencing a year of treatment. The drug has demonstrated treatment discontinuation rates comparable to a placebo and showed “robust efficacy” in a phase 3 trial for plaque psoriasis.
According to cAMPfield, “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.”
Leadership and Expertise
The formation of cAMPfield has drawn notable industry veterans as co-founders, including Asit Parikh, former lead on Takeda’s IBD injection Entyvio; Keith Usiskin, who developed Otezla and Zeposia; and Mark Stenhouse, former head of Humira commercialization at AbbVie. Bill Gerhart serves as the current CEO. Previously, he has held leadership roles in various biotech firms, operating under the Roivant umbrella.
Mountainfield Venture Partners, the firm behind cAMPfield, focuses on creating new companies based on in-licensed drug candidates. cAMPfield marks yet another successful venture for the firm, following the establishment of Timberlyne Therapeutics—a company launched last year with similar funding and a focus on an anti-CD38 antibody.
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