Epsilogen Ltd completes £12.5m Series B expansion

London-based cancer specialist Epsilogen Ltd has completed £12.5m Series B expansion financing bringing the Series B total to £43.25m. The assets will be used to test the company’s lead IgE antibody MOv18 IgE in a Phase Ib trial featuring platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (PROC) as well as to advance the company’s IgE-based pipeline. The financing was entirely conducted by existing investors including British Patient Capital, Novartis Venture Fund, Epidarex Capital, 3B Future Health Fund and ALSA Ventures.

MOv18 IgE is the first cancer IgE antibody to enter the clinic. This first-in-class antibody targets folate receptor alpha , an antigen overexpressed on a variety of cancers including ovarian, endometrial, lung and triple negative breast cancer. In a Phase I trial, MOv18 IgE was found to be safe and well tolerated with initial signs of clinical activity also seen.

A planned Phase Ib trial is a two-part, dose escalation and expansion trial in patients with FRalpha-positive platinum-resistant ovarian cancer whose disease has progressed after more than four prior regimens of anti-cancer therapy.

MOv18 IgE mechanism include high affinity binding to its main cognate receptor, FcεR1, thereby enabling immunosurveillance and potent myeloid cell driven tumour cell killing. Additionally, IgE antibodies drive modulation of the tumour immune microenvironment to become more inflamed, leading to increased intra-tumoural levels of activated T cells and tumour killing macrophages.

The 2017 King’s College spin-out Epsilogen has recently successfully completed large scale GMP manufacture of MOv18 IgE  and will initiate a Phase Ib trial in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients later this year. The company is also developing a pipeline of IgE therapies in oncology as well as proprietary platforms including IgE bispecifics and unique IgE/IgG combination antibody molecules (IgEGs) with enhanced functionality.