近几年来，关于癌症免疫疗法开发的相关研究在媒体上捷报频传，从医院到患者、从药企到大众都渐渐意识到治疗癌症的方法并不仅仅局限于化疗和放疗。
最近，著名投资公司 Fidelity Biosciences、Atlas Venture等牵头赛诺菲旗下投资公司Genzyme BioVenture共同投资1200万美元支持Unum生物技术公司开发相关疗法。Unum生物医药公司位于麻省坎布里奇市，主要致力于癌症相关研究。
利用这轮投资，Unum公司将能够推动其开发的肿瘤特异性抗体技术进一步发展。不同于传统的肿瘤免疫疗法，Unum生物公司将肿瘤特异性抗体和T细胞疗法结合起来，通过多种抗体精确定位癌细胞，使得T细胞能够更特异的识别和消灭癌症细胞。而传统的肿瘤免疫疗法一般是需要识别特异性抗原才能起到作用。
Unum公司的这种名为抗体偶联T细胞受体疗法（ACTR）的另一个优势是通过对不同抗体的选择，能够对多种肿瘤起到治疗作用。另一方面，不同于诺华公司和Juno公司等CAR-T疗法先驱，Unum公司的另一个巨大优势在于，研究中采用的抗体都已经经过充分研究，这也将大大加快这一疗法的研究进度，帮助其在未来市场上占据更大的优势。
此次融资结束后，Unum公司计划经ACTR疗法推入临床一期研究，并预计于2015年初步获得关于患者的研究数据。
最近一段时间，各大生物医药公司已经在癌症免疫疗法领域投入了数以十亿美元计的资金，如 Adaptimmune、葛兰素史克、诺华公司和Juno公司等都设立了自己的研究项目，以期占据先机。
详细英文报道：
As the promise of harnessing the immune system to fight cancer grabs headlines around the industry, venture stalwarts Fidelity Biosciences and Atlas Venture have teamed up to launch Unum Therapeutics, a Cambridge, MA, startup with a hybrid approach to the field.
Fidelity and Atlas led a $12 million Series A round for the new biotech, joined by Sanofi ($SNY)-Genzyme BioVentures. With the money, Unum--as in e pluribus--will advance its cancer-fighting platform, which pairs a well-established technology with a promising newfangled modality.
Unum's approach involves equipping tumor-specific antibodies with genetically rewired T cells, creating a targeted oncology treatment that marries the efficient, predictable delivery of antibody technology with the cancer-killing power of immunotherapy. Thanks to the versatility of antibody targeting, the resulting treatments can potentially benefit a wider variety of cancers than other T cell therapies, including CAR-Ts and TCRs, which commonly must bind to specific antigens. Furthermore, unlike the treatments under development by Novartis ($NVS), Juno Therapeutics and others, Unum's approach promises easier titration and administration thanks to its use of well-understood antibodies, the company said.
The biotech's new fundraise will pay its way into Phase I with its lead program, called an antibody-coupled T cell receptor (ACTR) therapy, and expects to post early patient data in 2015. In the meantime, the company plans to scout for pharma partners who want to match their well-honed antibodies with its T cell platform.
Leading the way is CEO Charles Wilson, a veteran of Novartis, the biggest Big Pharma player in immuno-oncology. He's joined by Scientific Founder Dario Campana, the brains behind Unum's ACTR and the CAR technology used by a host of developers, the company said. At chief scientific officer is Seth Ettenberg, another Novartis oncology veteran. Rounding out Unum's board alongside Wilson are Fidelity's Ben Auspitz and Atlas' Bruce Booth.
"We've created Unum to rapidly develop this universal cell therapy platform and to explore its potential in a number of different cancer types," Wilson said in a statement. "With our Series A funding from Fidelity Biosciences, Atlas Venture, and Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures, we will drive our lead program into Phase I testing and aim to quickly validate the ACTR approach in the clinic."
Meanwhile, the promise of similar therapies has spurred billions in investment across the industry. Adaptimmune, at work on a TCR platform, raised $104 million in September, a few months removed from signing deal with GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) worth up to $350 million. Juno, another private biotech, has raised more than $300 million in just over a year to support its CAR-T efforts, and Kite Pharma ($KITE) pulled off a $128 million IPO to fund R&D in the same field.
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