Nemucore Medical Innovations, Inc.

Nemucore Medical Innovations is developing a drug designed to treat a highly lethal type of cancer.

The company is currently conducting trials on the drug, and aims to have FDA approval in three to four years.

Nemucore's drug is called NMI-900. The drug is designed to treat a type of blood cancer called Acute Myeliod Leukemia, or “AML.”

AML is the second-most commonly diagnosed type of leukemia. It's a blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow and causes patients to become very ill. Only 27% of patients with AML survive more than five years past diagnosis.

Each year, there are 21,000 new cases of AML in the U.S., and it causes more than 10,000 deaths.

Traditionally, the standard cancer treatment has been chemotherapy, which kills both cancerous and healthy cells. As a result, patients suffer serious side effects including nausea, hair loss, fatigue, and memory loss.

In addition, choosing chemotherapy drugs is a trial and error process. In other words, it could take several rounds of chemotherapy to find a drug that is effective on a particular patient.

In the late 1990s, the first targeted therapies were developed that focused on attacking only the cancerous cells. To determine if a patient could receive this type of therapy, physicians looked for specific mutations in a cancer cell’s deoxyribonucleic acid, or "DNA." These are molecules that store genetic information in a cell’s nucleus.

The problem was only 30% of patients had these mutations.

Nemucore's drug is designed to treat the other 70% of patients.

While most cancer diagnostics focus on the DNA of a cell, Nemucore tests the ribonucleic acid, or "RNA," of a patient’s cancer. RNA is a molecule that helps code, decode, regulate, and express a person’s DNA.

According to Nemucore, RNA is the richest source of information in a cancer cell.

From there, the company uses information found within RNA to determine if a patient’s cancer will be sensitive to the drug. If a patient’s cancer is not sensitive, Nemucore can determine a patient is not a good match for the drug.

By running this type of test, physicians can treat only those patients who will benefit from NMI-900.

For those who benefit, NMI-900 works by halting the rapid division of cancer cells. This drug has the potential to treat more patients, improve survival ratings, and significantly reduce a patient’s side effects.

Nemucore got started in 2008. Over the next seven years, the company raised $7 million from foundation grants through the National Cancer Institute.

Following development of NMI-900, Nemucore conducted a Phase 1 trial. This trial was designed to test the drug’s safety and dosage levels. As a result of the trial, NMI-900 showed potential to have a positive impact on cancer patients.

Currently, Nemucore is preparing for its Phase 1b/2 trial. In the previous trial, the drug was administered five days a week consecutively for three weeks. This time, the drug will be given 1 to 2 times per week for one week, with two weeks off in between. The company believes this will enable patients to refrain from having to sit in a hospital multiple times over a three-week period.

To conduct this study, Nemucore is working with experts from Moffitt Cancer Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

The goal of the study is to gather data regarding Nemucore’s diagnostic approach, which can predict which patients will benefit from NMI-900.

Following successful results, the company will work with the FDA to conduct additional trials.

With respect to future plans, Nemucore believes its drug and diagnostic approach could be used to treat at least four other types of cancers. These include Myelodysplastic Syndromes, Ovarian Cancer, Triple Negative Breast Cancer, and Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Each year, nearly 300,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with one of these types of cancers. And the potential market size for these cancers is more than $10 billion.

Nemucore aims to partner with one or more biopharmaceutical companies that focus on the blood cancer sector.

Team Background

Tim Coleman - Founder & CEO

Prior to starting Nemucore, Tim worked for 10 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers financial consulting company. While there, he served as a personalized medicine specialist and manager of the company’s Pharma and Life Sciences Division.

For nearly four years, Tim was a member of the Massey Cancer Center in Virginia. While working there, he conducted cancer research and worked with medical professionals throughout the state.

Coleman is the former Founder and President of BioCache Pharmaceuticals, a company that developed proprietary products for the treatment and prevention of cancer. While there, he secured venture capital financing and directed the company’s research and development division.

Tim earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, an MBA from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Barbara Davis - Chief Scientific Officer

Barbara is the former President and CEO of Innogenics, a laboratory that helps veterinarians and owners of pets with cancer receive diagnostic analysis and treatment options.

In addition, Barbara worked for nine years as a scientist for the National Institutes of Health.

She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Veterinary Medicine and received a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University.

William White - Chief Operating Officer

William has more than 25 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry.

Most recently, he was the former CEO and President of Icon Bioscience, a privately-held company focused on the development of medicine. While there, he helped raise more than $16 million in venture capital funds and negotiated an acquisition offer that represented a 700% return for some of the company’s investors.

William formerly served as CEO at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Research Foundation. While there, he focused on the university’s research strategy and created the UAB Concept Fund, an early-stage venture fund.

White worked with Coleman at BioCache Pharmaceuticals, where he served as CEO.

In addition, William served as President of Integrated Protein Technologies, a company that created new pharmaceutical drug delivery technologies.

For nearly five years, William served as Vice President of Commercial Development for Storz Ophthalmics. This company developed and marketed various medical devices, and achieved annual sales of $250 million.

William earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Dave Williams - Senior Vice President, Operations

Before joining Nemucore, Dave spent 22 years as President of TS Consulting. This company focused on monitoring pharmaceutical companies’ compliance with Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations.

Dave formerly served as Senior Vice President of Operations for Chlorogen, a biopharmaceutical company that focused on the development of proteins for human therapy.

Williams formerly served as Chief Technology Officer for CropTech Corporation, a company that developed plant-based technology for genetically-engineered vaccines.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Science from the University of Arkansas.

Allison Morse - Director of Clinical Affairs

Allison is a former board member of Facing Cancer Together, a non-profit dedicated to supporting patients with cancer.

For 12 years, she served as a lecturer at the School of Nursing and Health Studies at Simmons College.

Morse is a former nurse practitioner with the Steward Physician Network, and spent six years as a registered nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital.

She received a Master’s degree in Nursing from Simmons College and a Master’s degree in Maternal Child Health from Harvard.

Co-Investors

National Institutes of Health

An agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the NIH is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. The NIH both conducts its own scientific research through its Intramural Research Program (IRP) and provides major biomedical research funding to non-NIH research facilities through its Extramural Research Program.