OTTAWA, Ontario, April 16, 2019 (Newswire.com) – ​Orion Biotechnology Canada Ltd., a developer of novel medical treatments, today announced that its European subsidiary Orion Biotechnology Polska Sp. z.o.o. was awarded a grant of just under two million U.S. dollars by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR). The grant will help co-fund a project to advance development of the company’s innovative oncological drug candidate (OB-002O). Pre-clinical evaluation and a Phase 1 clinical trial are planned as part of the project.

OB-002O is a first-in-class chemokine analog drug candidate being testing by Orion Biotechnology for use in the treatment of solid tumors including colorectal cancer (CRC). The active agent in OB-002O is 5P12-RANTES, a CCR5 receptor antagonist, or chemokine analog, being developed by Orion Biotechnology for a range of clinical indications including cancer, neuroinflammation and HIV prevention.

“Our goal for OB-002O is to block the CCL5/CCR5 pathway which plays a critical role in cancer biology in order to inhibit tumor growth and metastasis,” explained Ian McGowan, chief medical officer for Orion Biotechnology. “NCBR’s financial support will help us to investigate the potential for OB-002O to treat late-stage cancers, including CRC, for which there is no effective treatment available today.”

“OB-002O represents an exciting new class of drugs – chemokine analogues – that falls under the broad and promising category of immunotherapy,” said Mark Groper, CEO of Orion Biotechnology. “We are very pleased that the National Centre for Research and Development has demonstrated confidence in our technology and company by providing this sizable investment.”