Bicara Therapeutics Launches with Deep Pipeline of First-in-Class Dual Action Biologics for Cancer Immunotherapy
Summary
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bicara Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing dual-action biologics designed to spur a potent and durable immune response in the tumor microenvironment, launched today with a $40 million investment from Biocon Limited. “The strong enrollment we have seen in the BCA101 trial underscores the depth of unmet need, especially in patients who are refractory to the standard of care, including chemotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors or targeted therapies,” said Dr. Liviu Niculescu, Chief Medical Officer of Bicara. • Ryan Cohlhepp, Pharm.D., President and Chief Operating Officer, was part of the founding team at Rheos Medicines and brings more than 20 years of experience in driving drug development and commercialization, including at Takeda Oncology. • Vijay Kuchroo (Chairman), D.V.M., Ph.D., Samuel L. Wasserstrom Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Senior Scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital • Nils Lonberg, Ph.D., Executive-in-Residence at Canaan Partners, most recently Senior Vice President, Oncology Discovery Biology, at Bristol Myers Squibb • Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson and Founder of Biocon, Ltd. Bicara’s global scientific advisory board includes pioneers in cancer immunotherapy and leading investigators of the tumor microenvironment: • Chaitanya Divgi, MBBS, a nuclear medicine scientist with more than 30 years of leading programs in nuclear oncology • Thomas Gajewski, M.D., Ph.D., AbbVie Foundation Professor of Cancer Immunotherapy at the University of Chicago • Caetano Reis e Sousa, D.Phil., Professor of Immunology at Imperial College London and Senior Group Leader and Assistant Research Director at the Francis Crick Institute • Arlene Sharpe, M.D., Ph.D., George Fabyan Professor of Comparative Pathology and Chair of the Department of Immunology at Harvard Medical School • Dario Vignali, Ph.D., Frank Dixon Chair in Cancer Immunology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Co-Director of the Tumor Microenvironment Center at University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute • Jedd Wolchok, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of the Melanoma and Immunotherapeutics Service; Associate Attending Physician and Lloyd J. Old/Virginia and Daniel K. Ludwig Chair in Clinical Investigation at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Bicara’s lead candidate, BCA101, is a first-in-class EGFR / TGFβ-trap bifunctional antibody designed to enhance both innate and adaptive immune responses directly at the site of the tumor by binding to the well-validated EGFR antigen and disabling TGFβ, a signaling molecule that plays a key role in suppressing the immune response in the tumor microenvironment. Biocon Limited, publicly listed in 2004, is an innovation-led global biopharmaceuticals company committed to enhance affordable access to complex therapies for chronic conditions like diabetes, cancer and autoimmune diseases.