Cytocom anticipates Phase 3 of Crohn’s drug study to start by end of year

FORT COLLINS — Cytocom Inc. (Nasdaq: CBLI), a Fort Collins pharmaceutical company that recently bolstered its drug-candidate pipeline with the acquisition of Cleveland BioLabs Inc., expects the third phase of its clinical trial for CYTO-201, a potential therapy for Crohn’s disease, to begin enrolling subjects by the end of 2021. 

Then in the first half of 2022, the company plans to begin testing for CYTO-401, a drug candidate for pancreatic cancer treatment. 

A clinical trial for COVID-19 drug candidate CYTO-205 is also expected in the near future, but Cytocom did not specify when that could launch. 

“We are excited and believe that we are well positioned to further the development of our clinical-stage pipeline and showcase the power of our expanded post-merger drug development capabilities,” Cytocom CEO Michael Handley said in a prepared statement. “We are strategically focused on immune-modulating treatments designed to address anemia and neutropenia, emergent viruses, cancer, and autoimmune diseases.”

Cytocom was first established in a suburb of Orlando, Florida. The company moved into its head offices in the CSU Research Foundation building last December and will maintain its other offices in Maryland and Florida after the merger is complete.

Handley is a Colorado State University graduate who previously was chief executive for local pharmaceutical companies Armis Biopharma Inc. and Aletheia Therapeutics Corp. from 2012 to the fall of 2019.

Cytocom’s main drug of focus has historically been naltrexone, which is approved for use in treating alcoholism and opioid addiction. It’s a similar compound to naloxone, the generic name for Narcan used in treating people with life-threatening opioid overdoses.

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