Dr John Ballantyne, co-founder of Aldevron, has invested $3 million in CureLab Oncology and CureLab Veterinary.
The two sister companies have developed an anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory drug that was contract-manufactured by Aldevron at the time Dr Ballantyne served there as chief scientific officer.
Both CureLab Oncology and CureLab Veterinary are developing therapies that employ plasmids (circular DNA encoding a gene called p62/SQSTM1). CureLab Oncology is applying the p62 plasmid to treat human cancers.
Following positive clinical data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in Paris, the funds will enable CureLab Oncology to move toward FDA-monitored clinical trials for triple-negative breast cancer and platinum-resistant ovarian cancer in 2023.
“I have been observing the CureLab journey since Aldevron produced the very first batch of their product. I have witnessed the CureLab team growing and evolving, obtaining patent protection around the world, and keeping an eye on their pre-clinical and clinical progress. The team and the strength of their recent clinical data is what made me want to invest,” said Dr Ballantyne.
The company says that the two divisions work closely together, as data obtained in real-life veterinary settings serves as a much stronger predictor for human clinical trials than experiments conducted on laboratory animals.
CureLab Veterinary received positive clinical results in 10 out of 11 dogs diagnosed with breast cancer. The company is looking to take its patented p62 plasmid technology through the USDA-CVB process with a view to marketing new anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory technologies for use by veterinarians.
