Juno jumps on cancer therapy wave

Minneapolis

IT'S a cancer therapy straight out of Greek mythology, bespoke medicine with astonishing results in the smallest and sickest of patients.

The treatment, called a chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR for short, has captured the attention of the biggest drug companies and become a hotbed for biotechnology startups. A medical amalgam like the chimera in Homer's Iliad - a fire- breathing monster with a lion's head, a goat's body and a snake's tail - it may offer the best chance for patients like toddler Greta Oberhofer to beat acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Investors have poured money into these firms, including Seattle-based Juno Therapeutics Inc, which ended its first day of trading on Friday with a US$2.7 billion valuation, leaping 46 per cent above its price in an initial public offering. Yet therapies like Jun…