Cytonus Therapeutics has spun out of UC San Diego to develop cell-based containers for the effective release of therapeutics including cancer drugs.
US-based cancer drug delivery spinout Cytonus Therapeutics made its official debut today on the back of University of California (UC), San Diego research into using cells to release drugs into the body.
Founded in 2018, Cytonus Therapeutics is advancing cell-based drug delivery containers known as cargocytes intended to carry curative payloads including small molecules, gene therapies and antibodies to their target.
The cargocytes consist of allogenic cell lines engineered for a range of therapeutic applications, though Cytonus Therapeutics’ will initially focus on oncology. Its lead program, GM1215, will target pancreatic adenocarcinoma, a lethal solid subtype resilient against existing immunooncology techniques.
Other limitations of conventional immunooncology platforms that Cytonus hopes to counter include long development times, a complex manufacturing process and rapidly degrading effectiveness.
Cytonus Therapeutics’ technology advances research conducted by its founder and chief scientific officer Richard Klemke, a professor of pathology at UCSD’s health sciences division.
The spinout received $70,000 of a targeted $3m round in December 2018 consisting of debt and other securities, according to a regulatory filing.
