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The very first wave of cell therapies consisted of personalized cancer treatments made from a clients own immune cells in a prolonged, troublesome, and expensive procedure. Wugen is establishing treatments made with cells sourced from healthy donors, which uses the potential for “off-the-shelf” treatments.
Abingworth and Tybourne Capital Management led the Series B round of financing that was announced Thursday.
Wugen, which splits its operations between St. Louis and San Diego, is developing therapies based on a type of immune cell called natural killer (NK) cells. It calls these cells memory NK cells.
The lead program in Wugens pipeline is WU-NK-101, an NK therapy in development for severe myelogenous leukemia (AML). The initial cell treatments, chimeric antigen receptor T cells, or CAR T, won their first FDA approvals in blood cancers but they havent had the ability to treat strong growths. Wugen intends to conquer those constraints. The business has encouraging information from early-stage medical testing.
” In a continuous Phase 1/2 clinical trial, our lead item WU-NK-101 has shown an impressive total reaction rate in relapsed/refractory AML and we anticipate advancing into a global multi-center research study later this year,” Wugen president and CEO Dan Kemp said in a prepared statement.
The lead program is likewise in preclinical development for head and neck cancer, as well as melanoma. Another NK program, WK-NK-201, is in the discovery stage for strong tumors.
In addition to its NK research study, Wugen is developing off-the-shelf CAR T treatments. The T cells, sourced from healthy donors, are crafted to remove elements that can direct the T cell to kill a clients own cells or trigger a deadly immune action. Wugens CAR T treatment WU-CART-007 is being readied for Phase 1 screening in T cell intense lymphoblastic leukemia, a rare cancer most typically found in children and young people. Both the NK and CAR T innovations were licensed from Washington University.
Wugen said it will use the funding to continue clinical advancement of its memory NK cell platform, and advance studies in clients with extreme AML and other cancer indicators, consisting of strong tumors. The business also plans to use the money to bring its wider pipeline into the clinic.
The most recent Wugen funding added brand-new investors Fidelity Management & & Research Company, Intermediate Capital Group, Sands Capital, Aisling Capital Management, Alexandria Venture Investments, Velosity Capital, and Falcon Edge Capital. Earlier investors RiverVest Venture Partners, LYZZ Capital, and Lightchain Capital likewise got involved.
In connection with the funding, the Wugen board of directors is adding Bali Muralidhar, handling partner at Abingworth, Bosun Hau, handling director at Tybourne Capital Management, and Peter Kiener, endeavor partner at ICG.
Public domain image from the National Cancer Institute.

The very first wave of cell therapies included tailored cancer treatments made from a clients own immune cells in a lengthy, cumbersome, and costly process. Wugen, which splits its operations in between St. Louis and San Diego, is establishing treatments based on a type of immune cell called natural killer (NK) cells. It calls these cells memory NK cells.
The initial cell therapies, chimeric antigen receptor T cells, or CAR T, won their first FDA approvals in blood cancers but they have not been able to deal with solid growths. The T cells, sourced from healthy donors, are crafted to remove components that can direct the T cell to eliminate a clients own cells or activate a fatal immune reaction.