Nanomedicine standout spotlights first human cancer data

Posted under BIND Biosciences, BIND-014, biomedical nanotechnology, Blog, Cancer Drugs, Clinical Trials, Companies, Diagnostics, Funding, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, nanomedicine, Pharmaceuticals, Phase I, R&D, Startups, Universities, Videos by rmcbride

Bind Biosciences has scored some initial blows against cancers in humans, providing data that back up some of the promise of its nanomedicine Bind-014 in preclinical tests.

The Cambridge, MA-based Bind, a Fierce 15 company, showcased some preliminary findings from an ongoing Phase I study involving patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors. According to Bind, the data show that Bind-014, which is its nanomedicine containing the chemo drug docetaxel, showed anti-tumor activity in 6 out of 17 patients. Importantly, these are patients with aggressive tumors that aren't known to respond to docetaxel alone, according to the company.

Of course, these are only early-stage trial data, and the drug will need to be tested in many more patients before Bind can claim victory, but the company is touting the fact that this is the first time its targeted and programmable meds have shown activity in human cancers. 

"Preclinically … these [nanomedicines] are capable of producing up to a tenfold increase of drug concentration in the tumor and doing that over a much longer period of time" than when the active drug is used alone, Scott Minick, president and CEO of Bind, told FierceBiotech. "So you're really hitting the tumor hard."

Minick expects the company to launch a Phase II study of Bind-014, the company's lead drug, later this year. The company entered this year with a strong financial footing after landing a $47.25 million funding deal involving Russia-based investor RusNano, a Russian government-backed fund that invests in nanotechnology and life sciences companies.

The company showcased its Phase I data at the big American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting.

- here's the company's release

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Bind banks $12.4M round as lead program heads into PhI

Exclusive: MIT’s Langer, Farokhzad launch combination-med biotech

Posted under BIND Biosciences, Blend Therapeutics, Blog, combo drug, Companies, Diagnostics, drug combination, Funding, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Omid Farokhzad, Pharmaceuticals, Robert Langer, Selecta Biosciences, Startups, Universities, Videos by John Carroll

Serial biotech entrepreneurs Robert Langer and Omid Farokhzad are joining up with MIT's Dr. Stephen Lippard to launch a new drug developer--Blend Therapeutics--which will concentrate on the development of a pipeline of combination therapies. And they have ambitious plans to redefine the whole field of combination treatments in the process.

Lippard's work at MIT has been heavily concentrated on platinum anticancer therapies. He's been exploring new "nanomolecular constructs" that can extend the lifetime and improve the therapeutic punch of platinum drugs. That platinum class of drugs is just one of the approaches that Blend will use as it crafts a new type of combination therapy, Farokhzad explains to FierceBiotech.

Currently, combination therapies are simply separate drugs which use different pharmacologies to attack a disease. In Blend's case, the company will work to "combine a variety of different drugs together, forcing them together" in a way that makes them work in concert--which is why they dubbed the platform Maestro. And Blend will initially focus on oncology, inflammation, pain and infectious diseases.

MIT's Langer and Harvard's Farokhzad are both familiar faces in the Boston biotech hub, credited with a string of startups that include Bind Biosciences and Selecta Biosciences--both Fierce 15 companies which have attracted sizeable amounts of venture cash. The scientists have contributed insights on nanobio that have inspired scores of drug programs. And they've brought together a distinguished group of colleagues from the science world--which includes Harvard's Ulrich von Andrian--to advise Blend as it builds its new drug discovery platform.

Flagship Ventures, New Enterprise Associates and NanoDimension joined forces to bankroll Blend's Series A.

Blend will be built with a business plan that mirrors the approach used to construct Bind and Selecta, says Farokhzad. Starting with a $2.8 million stake provided by the venture groups, the biotech plans to build a staff of about a dozen people this year, growing to around 20 sometime next year. The founders plan to build its staff methodically, waiting until the biotech is mature enough to attract the attention of a top-tier CEO. And a lean initial budget is intended to help guard against diluting equity while pushing the team to start finding additional sources of non-dilutive cash.

"This is a platform that is very interesting to Big Pharma partners," says Farokhzad. And the plan now is to start working on preclinical pacts as they start to "test the boundaries of the platform."

"We could have done a $16 million Series A," adds Farokhzad.  But it's better to build the infrastructure first, create some value, and then raise additional cash later this year. And while RusNano, which recently invested heavily in Bind and Selecta, has not been approached on Blend, Farokhzad says he wouldn't be in the least surprised to hear from them later.

- here's the press release

Special Reports: BIND Biosciences - 2008 Fierce 15 | Selecta Biosciences - 2011 Fierce 15

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Russian fund leads $94.5M investment in two Langer biotechs