08 January 2025 | Wednesday | News
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Verismo Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing the novel KIR-CAR platform for solid tumors and blood cancers, today announced a strategic investment from the Institute for Follicular Lymphoma Innovation (IFLI), a global non-profit foundation dedicated to advancing treatment options for follicular lymphoma (FL). This partnership aims to enhance Verismo's SynKIR™-310 pipeline and provide catalytic investment for the pipeline's FL arm, accelerating the development of next-generation cell therapies that address high unmet medical needs.
The investment from IFLI will help advance Verismo's SynKIR™-310 pipeline, which aims to treat FL along with other non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) subtypes. IFLI's deep expertise in FL will be crucial in guiding Verismo through FL-specific clinical considerations and aiding in patient recruitment.
"We are thrilled to receive this strategic investment from IFLI, which shares our vision for developing transformative therapies for patients suffering from aggressive tumors and lymphomas," said Bryan Kim, CEO of Verismo Therapeutics. "This funding will enable us to expedite the clinical development of our SynKIR™-310 program, which is currently in Phase 1 clinical trial. IFLI's support will enable us to bring our novel therapies to FL patients more quickly and efficiently."
Verismo Therapeutics is currently running a multicenter, open-label study of a single infusion of SynKIR™-310 in participants with post-CAR T and CAR-naive relapsed/refractory B-NHL (NCT06544265), including FL. This clinical study is a basket trial in B-NHL subtypes. The design includes two dose levels and an expansion cohort at the Recommended Phase 2 Dose (RP2D), with a total enrollment of up to 18 patients. With IFLI's investment totaling up to $4,050,000 over 3 years, Verismo aims to expand the number of FL-focused clinical sites to enroll more FL patients.
"IFLI is excited to support the next wave of transformative cell therapies with Verismo lead SynKIR™-310 targeting CD19," said Michel Azoulay, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer of IFLI. "We expect that positive Phase 1safety and preliminary efficacy data will support accelerated clinical development in FL for patients not responding to first line immunotherapy as well as exploration in additional NHL."
IFLI has a proven track record of advancing lymphoma treatments through strategic funding and collaborative partnerships, including its support for groundbreaking research at Washington University in St. Louis, which leverages ctDNA sequencing to improve the understanding and treatment of FL.
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