ALK5

Agomab’s lead candidate is being investigated as a treatment for patients with fibrostenosing Crohn’s disease (FSCD). Credit: Hananeko_Studio via Shutterstock. Agomab Therapeutics has secured $89m in Series D funding to support clinical trials of its fibrotic disease treatments, with some help from Sanofi . Belgium-based Agomab announced that Sanofi and Invus have joined as new investors in its latest funding round, following on from a $100m Series C round in October 2023, and a $114m Series B where Pfizer led an extension round. The funds will be used to advance the development of Agomab’s lead candidate AGMB-129, a treatment for patients with fibrostenosing Crohn’s disease (FSCD). The oral small molecule inhibitor of ALK5 (TGFβ1R) is currently being investigated in the Phase IIa STENOVA trial (NCT05843578). The company expects to share interim results from the 90-patient trial in early 2025. Positive data from the Phase I trial (NCT04933565) of AGMB-129 was reported in February 2023, where the candidate demonstrated high local exposure in the ileum, with no drug-related safety signals or dose-limiting toxicities. Patients with FSCD have strictures in the intestines caused by inflammation and scarring, for which there is no cure. The company also has an inhaled treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), named AGMB-447, and a liver cirrhosis candidate AGMB-101. AGMB-447 is being investigated in a Phase I trial (NCT06181370) and Agomab plans to start clinical development of AGMB-101, which is “in the final stages of IND-enabling studies”. See Also: Dyno and Roche collaborate on neurological gene therapies Takeda and BMC partner to decarbonise US healthcare sector Sanofi continues to assert itself in the immunology space, signing deals with parties such as Recludix, Teva Pharmaceutical and IGM Biosciences . The company expanded its immunology pipeline further in June 2024, entering a $700m strategic partnership with Belharra Therapeutics to spur the development of small molecule therapies for immunological diseases. Sanofi and Regeneron’s immune-targeting biologic Dupixent (dupilumab) has been picking up label expansions since its 2017 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for atopic dermatitis. The drug earned $11.6bn last year, as per Regeneron’s financials, and is set to generate $23.6bn in 2030, according to GlobalData consensus forecasts. GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology. In the announcement accompanying the funding, Agomab’s CEO Tim Knotnerus said: “We are thrilled to have Sanofi and Invus joining our investor syndicate. Their investment as well as the continued support from our existing shareholders is another validation of the trailblazing work our team is conducting in the fields of fibrostenosing Crohn’s disease and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.”

Agomab Therapeutics is benefiting from Sanofi’s push to become an immunology powerhouse. The Antwerp-based biotech said Friday that the French drug giant and Invus are new investors in its $89 million Series D that arrived one year after its $100 million Series C . Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim have also backed Agomab. The company wasn’t seeking additional money. “The $100 million is still in the bank,” Agomab CEO Tim Knotnerus said in an interview. But after receiving inbound interest from Sanofi, the biotech’s execs discussed it with the board and then did a “very selective reach-out” to other investors. It took only a month to close the round, the CEO said. The new financing will fund an ongoing Phase 2a of Agomab’s lead therapy — an oral small molecule for a subset of Crohn’s disease patients — and another oral drug candidate already in Phase 1 for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. It also plans to take a MET agonistic antibody into human studies in the first half of next year for liver cirrhosis. Agomab anticipates interim data for the first 40 of 90 patients from the Phase 2a of AGMB-129 in early 2025. Investigators are testing the gut-restricted ALK5 inhibitor in patients with fibrostenosing Crohn’s disease, which impacts about half the people with the inflammatory bowel disease. It has the FDA fast track tag. “Can we indeed avoid the known cardio toxicity that is associated with ALK5?” Knotnerus said. “We believe we can because of the way our compound has been designed, so that we have high local exposure of our ALK5 asset in the gastrointestinal tract and very low systemic exposure.” In the first half of next year, the biotech also expects to have the first batch of healthy volunteer data from the Phase 1 trial in IPF for its ALK5 inhibitor that is lung-restricted, according to Knotnerus. IPF leads to difficulties with breathing and impairs multiple other functions, eventually leading to death for many patients within about five years. Boehringer and Roche each market medicines for IPF, and both were approved by the FDA 10 years ago. Many drug developers are following up with next-generation medicines. Amid a broader restructuring of its business, Sanofi has continued to bet on oncology and I&I. In recent months, it invested in several companies developing IPF medicines like Vicore Pharma and Graviton Bioscience . The company also earmarked up to $1.5 billion for the anti-TL1A race in a partnership with Teva . Agomab broke cover in 2019 with a $23 million Series A. It snagged a $74 million Series B in 2021 and bought Spanish startup Origo Biopharma later that year. The 60-employee startup also now has an office in Cambridge, MA. It added former Seagen leader David Epstein to its board this summer, and Pierre Kemula — who headed finance at CureVac when it went public — is set to start as CFO on Nov. 1.

BOSTON, MA, USA and SEONGNAM, South Korea I October 4, 2024 I TiumBio Co., Ltd. (Kosdaq: 321550), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative therapeutics for patients with rare and incurable diseases, announced today that the first patient has been dosed in its Phase 2 clinical trial of TU2218. TU2218 is a novel oral dual inhibitor targeting TGFR1 and VEGFR2. TGF-ß and VEGF pathways are known to suppress the activity of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), so TU2218 is expected to improve the efficacy of ICIs by blocking the two pathways. In Phase 1a and 1b clinical trials, TiumBio evaluated the safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of TU2218 as a monotherapy and in combination with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in 41 patients with advanced solid tumors. These profiles were used to determine the dose levels for Phase 2 trials. The Phase 2a trial is designed to assess the safety and efficacy of TU2218 in combination with Keytruda in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), biliary tract cancer (BTC), and colorectal cancer (CRC). The Phase 2 trial begins at Seoul National University Hospital and Asan Medical Center in South Korea, which is planned to expand to hospitals in the United States. The first dose was administered to an HNSCC patient. HNSCC refers to malignant tumors that occur in the oral cavity, throat, larynx, or salivary glands. The standard treatment typically involves surgery and radiation therapy. According to Global Data, as of 2023, the number of HNSCC patients worldwide is estimated to be around 610,000, and it is expected to exceed 670,000 by 2030. “HNSCC is a disease with a high unmet medical need, as the average survival rate for first-line treatments is known to be only about one year,” said Hun-taek Kim, Ph.D., MBA, CEO of TiumBio. “We have selected cancer types for the Phase 2 clinical trial based on other trials that demonstrated strong anti-cancer effects from targeting TGF- ß or VEGF pathways. Our goal is to develop TU2218 as a first-line treatment for HNSCC,” he added. In the Phase 1b trial, among 10 patients with advanced solid tumors who received a 195mg daily dose (the determined dose for Phase 2) of TU2218 with Keytruda, three patients achieved partial response (PR) and five patients had stable disease (SD), yielding an 80% disease control rate (DCR). About TiumBio Co., Ltd. TiumBio (Kosdaq: 321550) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative therapeutics for patients with rare and incurable diseases. Its mission is to expand the hope and happiness of mankind through our science. TiumBio boasts three leading pipeline assets: merigolix (code name: TU2670), TU2218, and TU7710, all in various stages of clinical development. Merigolix is a once-daily, oral GnRH receptor antagonist being developed for the treatment of endometriosis and uterine fibroids and is undergoing in global Phase 2 clinical trials. TU2218 is a first-in-class oral immune-oncology therapy targeting TGF-β and VEGF pathways to promote response rates in cancer patients when used in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors. TU7710 is a novel rFVIIa designed to extend its half-life in order to provide more clinical benefits to hemophilia patients with inhibitors. With its expertise in drug development, TiumBio is committed to the discovery and development of innovative treatments to ease the burden of debilitating diseases. For further information, visit our website at www.tiumbio.com/en and connect with us on LinkedIn . Contacts: Junseok Jang, Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations junseokjang@tiumbio.com Suna Cho, Manager, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations sunacho@tiumbio.com Da-ye Song, Manager, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations dayesong@tiumbio.com SOURCE: TiumBio