Andrii Dodonov Cell therapy developer Cartesian Therapeutics ( NASDAQ: RNAC ) announced Tuesday that its lead asset, Descartes-08, reached the main goal in a mid-stage trial against the muscle disorder myasthenia gravis (MG). In conjunction with the readout, the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based biotech announced an agreement with certain investors to receive roughly $130M in gross proceeds as part of a PIPE (Private investment in public equity) financing round. Citing topline data from a Phase 2b study for Descartes-08 in generalized MG, Cartesian said that the mRNA CAR-T cell therapy achieved the primary endpoint versus placebo, with statistical significance.
According to the company, Descartes-08, designed as an outpatient treatment, reached the study’s primary goal, a clinical measure calculated using the proportion of patients who achieved a reduction of five points or more in the MG Composite (MGC) score at month three. As for safety, patients appeared to tolerate Descartes-08 well, with adverse events being transient and mostly mild, Cartesian ( RNAC ) added. The company said it would discuss the results with the FDA as part of an end-of-phase 2 meeting by the year-end.
Detailing the terms of the financing agreement, Cartesian ( RNAC ) said it will be selling more than 3.5M shares of common stock and over 2.9M shares of its convertible preferred stock for $20 each.
The company intends to use net proceeds to fund its R&D activities and other corporate purposes, including w.
