In what it is hailing as a transformative year, medtech Arovella Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:ALA) trained its focus on its proprietary cancer-combatting inkt cell therapy platform.
The company's strategic advancements in leadership and operational efficiency have set the stage for future growth and innovation in the field.
Shares up in 2023
Moreover these initiatives have seen the company’s share price increase by more than 350% – impressive considering economic headwinds and a challenging market.
Arovella fortified its leadership structure with the appointment of Dr. Tom Duthy as chair, and bolstered its roll call of experienced professionals in drug development.
These strategic appointments have amplified the company's output and expertise.
The company also made some big decisions to increase efficiency and build its flagship project.
“We closed our Perth R&D facility, which we expect to provide ongoing cost savings for the company, and of course, to make sure that we've got a laser-like focus on our inkt cell therapy platform,” said CEO Dr Michael Baker.
Successful fundraiser
On the finance front, the company’s successful $8 million fundraising effort during the year will help it to advance L 101 and broaden the scope of its inkt cell therapy initiatives.
In preparation for Phase 1 first-in-human trials of L 101, Arovella Therapeutics finalised the lentiviral vector design for AL 101, demonstrating significant anti-tumour activity.
“We were able to demonstrate that this has very potent anti-tumour activity both in vitro and in vivo, and after freeze-drying, which simulates the allogeneic or the off-the-shelf approach that we're hoping for L 101,” Baker said.
The company presented these findings at the American Association for Cancer Research, attracting interest from the scientific and pharmaceutical sectors.
Collaborations with Lentum for GMP manufacturing and Cell Therapies for scale-up processes marked critical milestones toward the commencement of clinical trials.
Arovella Therapeutics expanded its inkt cell platform by licensing a novel Chk antigen receptor and optioning technology from the University of North Carolina. These developments offer promising potential in targeting solid tumours, such as gastric and pancreatic cancers. The company also showcased the efficacy of L 101 in combination with Oncarix in vitro earlier in the year.
Next up
Looking ahead to 2024, Arovella Therapeutics is set to focus on completing GMP manufacturing for L 101 and preparing for Phase 1 clinical trials.
The company aims to initiate these trials in the second half of the year, targeting CD19 lymphomas and leukemias.
Arovella will continue advancing proof of concept testing and optimising CAR constructs for targeting gastric and pancreatic cancers as part of its L 105 project.