Cartography Biosciences Secures $67M in Series B Funding for Novel Cancer Therapies

Cartography Biosciences, a San Francisco Bay Area biotechnology company, has announced a successful $67 million Series B funding round to advance its innovative cancer treatment pipeline. The company's lead program, CBI-1214, is poised to enter clinical trials early next year, targeting colorectal cancer with a novel T cell engager approach.

T Cell Engagers: A Growing Trend in Cancer Treatment

T cell engagers, a type of multifunctional antibody drug, have gained significant traction in recent years. These therapies have shown promise in treating blood cancers, eye diseases, and hemophilia, with researchers now exploring their potential in solid tumors and inflammatory diseases.

Cartography's CBI-1214 aims to treat the most common form of colorectal cancer, known as microsatellite stable colorectal cancer. This type of cancer has traditionally had limited treatment options, primarily restricted to chemotherapy and targeted drugs, with poor response rates to existing therapies.

Kevin Parker, Cartography's founder and former Stanford University researcher, explained the potential advantage of T cell engagers in colorectal cancer: "T cell engagers may have better luck because of their ability to draw immune cells to a tumor, turning an immunologically 'cold' tumor into a 'hot' one."

LY6G6D: A Promising Target for Colorectal Cancer

CBI-1214 targets a protein called LY6G6D, which Parker describes as "uniquely expressed" on colorectal tumors. While Roche is also exploring this target with their drug linclatamig in early-stage testing, Parker believes CBI-1214 may impact a broader set of colorectal tumors and induce a more potent T cell response.

"There's still an opportunity to build the right molecule," Parker stated, highlighting the potential for Cartography's approach to differentiate itself in the competitive oncology landscape.

Expanding Pipeline and Strategic Partnerships

Beyond CBI-1214, Cartography is developing two additional early-stage programs for solid tumors, including another T cell engager. The company has also formed a strategic partnership with Gilead Sciences, focusing on treatments for triple-negative breast cancer and adenocarcinoma. This collaboration, established last year, provided Cartography with $20 million in upfront funding.

The recent Series B funding round attracted investments from over a dozen firms, led by Pfizer Ventures. Other notable contributors included Amgen Ventures, a16z, and Catalio Capital Management. Michael Baran, a partner at Pfizer Ventures, expressed confidence in Cartography's potential: "With a strong discovery platform and a growing pipeline, Cartography is quickly emerging as a leader in antibody therapeutics, and Pfizer Ventures is excited to support their progress in bringing potential new treatments to patients."