COUR’s immunity-switching nanoparticles attract biopharma-backed $105M series A

31 Jan 2024
firstwordpharma.com
Phase 2Fast TrackImmunotherapy
With a major pharma deal and $100 million already under its belt, COUR Pharmaceuticals raised an additional $105 million Tuesday in a series A round that garnered investments from some of the largest drugmakers, including Roche, Pfizer, and Bristol Myers Squibb. The funds will push two of COUR’s internal autoimmune nanoparticle programmes into Phase II testing.
COUR CEO John J. Puisis told FirstWord that the financing, plus the partnership interest the company has received, are due to the broad potential of its nanoparticle platform and the strength of its supporting preclinical and clinical data.
“We reached a level of maturity in terms of data and operations and believed it the appropriate time to expand more broadly into new indications and build out our clinical pipeline,” Puisis said of the series A, which was co-led by Lumira Ventures and Alpha Wave Ventures. “While it has been a challenging funding environment, we believe good science will always attract good investors. We are very encouraged by the results we’ve generated to date.”
The financing will move COUR’s myasthenia gravis (MG) and type 1 diabetes (T1D) candidates – CNP-106 and CNP-103, respectively – into Phase IIa trials, marking four mid-stage clinical programmes for the company.
COUR’s two partnered programmes are also in Phase II testing. Takeda licensed exclusive rights in 2019 to Celiac disease treatment TAK-101, and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has an option for primary biliary cholangitis candidate CNP-104, which also boasts fast track designation from the FDA.
Flipping the switch on autoimmunity
“Unlike traditional treatment options, COUR’s nanoparticles are not general immunosuppressants but work by inducing antigen-specific immune tolerance,” Puisis said.
Autoimmunity occurs when the body mistakes self-antigens for foreign antigens; COUR’s biodegradable nanoparticles are designed to encapsulate disease-associated self-antigens and reintroduce them to the immune system in a way that induces tolerance.
The nanoparticles release their payload after being taken up by antigen-presenting cells in the spleen and liver, which are then reprogrammed to present the self-antigens to T cells with a tolerogenic signal, rather than immunogenic. This induces tolerance, downregulating T cell responses to the self-antigens and reducing inflammation at the site of disease.
“Essentially, COUR’s technology is reprogramming the immune system by flipping the switch of autoimmune disease back and returning the body to a homeostatic state,” Puisis said.
What’s more, the nanoparticles are incredibly flexible; the only difference between the company’s MG and T1D programmes is the disease-causing antigen payload.
Because T1D is not linked to a single antigen, its nanoparticle encapsulates multiple antigens to comprehensively address the disease’s underlying pathology.
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