Chimeric Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:CHM) has ended the June quarter in a healthy financial position with $22.4 million in cash and equivalents as it moves ahead with its Chlorotoxin CAR T (CLTX CAR T) cell clinical trial.
During the quarter, the company successfully completed the first patient cohort in the CLTX CAR T Phase 1 clinical trial and initiated dosing in the second patient cohort.
CLTX CAR T trial
All patients dosed in the first patient cohort in Phase 1 CLTX CAR T cell clinical trial had advanced beyond the 28-day follow-up period without experiencing dose-limiting toxicities.
The treatment of the first patient in the second dose cohort marked the introduction of dual routes of administration of CLTX CAR T cells with both intracranial intratumoral (ICT) and intracranial intraventricular (ICV) dosing at a total target dose of 88 × 106 CLTX CAR T cells.
Financial update
The $22.4 million in cash and equivalents will support the company’s efforts to progress the development of CLTX CAR T and initiate the development of a cell therapy pipeline.
There was drop in net cash used in operating activities during the quarter to $1.1 million compared to $5.4 million for the quarter to March 31, 2021.
This was due to the fee paid in the March quarter to the City of Hope for US$3 million in connection to the one-off change of control fee allocated to administration and corporate costs.
ASCO Abstract
In May, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) selected the first CLTX CAR T abstract for presentation at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, the pre-eminent global cancer research meeting.
The abstract, presented by Dr Christine Brown, highlighted the Phase 1 clinical trial design and objectives for Chlorotoxin CAR T (CLTX CAR T), a first and potentially best in class CAR T cell therapy that has the potential to address the high unmet medical need of patients with recurrent or progressive glioblastoma.
Appointment of Dr Li Ren
During the quarter, Chimeric appointed Dr Li Ren as vice president, technical operations.
With nearly 20 years of experience developing and advancing cell therapy drug candidates from the preclinical stage through to commercial licensure, she was previously with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) where she most recently oversaw the technology transfers of Juno cell therapy pipeline products to BMS manufacturing facilities.