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Elicio is committed to transforming the lives of patients and their families by re-engineering the body`s immune response to cancer. By combining expertise in materials science and immunology, Elicio is engineering potent vaccines and immuno-therapies for an array of aggressive cancers. The Elicio Amphiphile platform enables precise targeting and delivery of immunogens directly to the lymphatic system, the “brain center” of the immune response, to significantly amplify and enhance the body`s own system of defenses, to defeat cancer and stop its recurrence. This substantially enhanced anti-tumor functionality and long-term protective memory could unlock the full potential of the human immune response to eliminate cancer. Elicio`s lead Amphiphile vaccines targeting pancreatic, colorectal, and head and neck cancer will begin initial patient studies in early 2020. Elicio was founded to expand and apply the ground-breaking Amphiphile technology invented and developed in the labs of Darrell Irvine Ph.D., Professor of Biological Engineering and Materials Sciences and Howard Hughes Investigator, at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that Elicio`s Amphiphile vaccines target and concentrate in the lymph nodes resulting in unprecedented tumor-specific immune responses and durable cures of aggressive tumor models in mice.
TCR² Therapeutics Inc. is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing the next generation of novel T cell therapies for patients suffering from cancer. TCR²`s proprietary T cell receptor (TCR) Fusion Construct T cells (TRuC-T cells) specifically recognize and kill cancer cells by harnessing signaling from the entire TCR, independent of human leukocyte antigens (HLA). In preclinical studies, TRuC-T cells have demonstrated superior anti-tumor activity compared to chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T cells), while exhibiting lower levels of cytokine release.
Clementia is a biopharmaceutical company that is focused on exploiting the science of novel retinoic acid receptor gamma agonists to address bone disease. Our lead program is palovarotene for Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP).
At LAVA, we are focused on applying our expertise in gamma-delta T-cell engagers (TCEs) to transform cancer therapy. We refer to our compounds as gamma-delta bispecific T-cell engagers, or gamma-delta bsTCEs. Our platform generates therapeutics that specifically activate a unique and relatively abundant effector gamma-delta T-cell subset called Vγ9Vδ2 (Vgamma9-Vdelta2) T-cells that have the ability to trigger activity of immune cells of both the innate and adaptive immune system. Our gamma-delta bsTCEs have demonstrated superior efficacy and safety profiles compared to other bsTCE approaches in preclinical studies and show preferential activity against tumor cells thereby potentially limiting toxicity in healthy tissue. To date, we are the only company developing bispecific gamma-delta T-cell engaging antibodies for the treatment of cancer. We are building a pipeline of gamma-delta bsTCEs that have applications in both solid and hematologic malignancies. Our lead program, LAVA-051, targets the tumor specific antigen CD1d, which can be overexpressed in multiple myeloma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), among other tumor types. LAVA-051 will enter a Phase I/IIa study in 1Q21.
SQZ Biotech is a unique cell therapy company, utilizing the proprietary CellSqueeze® platform to develop a new generation of cell therapies. SQZ currently focuses on the development of novel treatments that leverage targeted immune modulation to impact oncology and autoimmune diseases.