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Effector Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on pioneering the discovery and development of a new class of oncology drugs known as selective translation regulators (STRs). Translation is the process in cells whereby information in genetic sequences is used to direct synthesis of proteins. Each of eFFECTOR’s product candidates is designed to act on a single protein that regulates, in a coordinated manner, the expression of multiple functionally related proteins that together drive important biological processes such as immune evasion, stress and inflammatory responses. In cancer, the tightly controlled translation of specific proteins becomes dysregulated, leading to malignancy characterized by uncontrolled growth, immune evasion and metastases. eFFECTOR believes that its therapeutic approach can restore the translational control of processes which tumors have hijacked for their benefit, while preserving normal cell function.
PlateletBio is the only allogeneic cell therapy company focused on platelet biology. We are pioneers, discovering a completely new category in therapeutics.
Immatics Biotechnologies is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leading the development of advanced immunotherapies that are active against cancer. Cancer immunotherapy is still severely constrained by the lack of novel targets. Immatics overcomes this by applying its target discovery engine XPRESIDENT® to identify and validate antigens specific to cancer cells. These antigens, also called Tumor-Associated Peptides (TUMAPs), are able to activate T cells which are responsible for identifying and destroying cancer cells. These well characterized TUMAPs can be used as targets for all of the most promising cancer immunotherapy approaches including Adoptive Cell Therapies (ACT), soluble T Cell Receptors (TCRs), Antibodies and Cancer Vaccines. The US based Immatics US, Inc., launched in Aug. 2015, is focused on the development of three ACT approaches for the treatment of tumors with high unmet medical needs: ACTolog™, ACTengine™, and ACTallo™ in close collaboration with leading scientists at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, who contribute their long-term ACT expertise. The first ACT products are expected to enter the clinic in 2016. Immatics signed a strategic cancer immunotherapy collaboration with Roche in November 2013 to research, develop and commercialize a number of new cancer peptide antigen-based immunotherapies. In addition, Immatics is engaged in the development of soluble T-cell receptor (sTCR) approaches as well as monoclonal antibodies (mABs) directed towards XPRESIDENT® targets. The latter will be pursued in a strategic alliance with MorphoSys. Immatics is further conducting the clinical development of fully personalized therapeutic cancer vaccines, Glioma Actively Personalized VAccine Consortium (GAPVAC; an EU-funded consortium) in collaboration with BioNTech. Immatics GmbH is based in Tübingen, Germany, with a headcount of approximately 90 people. Immatics US, Inc. is based in Houston, Texas, USA, and currently employs approximately 15 people.
Protagonist Therapeutics is a biotechnology company pursuing the discovery and development of target oral peptides as well differentiated alternatives to antibodies, and also as new chemical entities (NCEs) against those targets and life threatening diseases for which suitable small molecule and/or biologic options are not available. Peptides typically suffer from limitations of poor proteolytic stability and therefore find scarce therapeutic utility that is largely limited to ‘injectable drugs’. Protagonist’s technology platform is aimed at overcoming these restrictions and expanding the scope of peptide therapeutics to address unmet needs. Specific emphasis is placed on identifying ‘orally stable’ scaffolds and/or engineering oral stability characteristics onto them. The platform has been optimized over the years and involves synergistic integration of rational drug design, diversity oriented computational tools, phage display libraries, recombinant peptide expression, ex vivo oral stability methods, and peptide/medicinal chemistry techniques. This activity has led to the identification of ‘privileged scaffolds’ with favorable oral stability characteristics. Furthermore, the technology platform is well suited both for de novo discovery against a target and optimization around a given chemical starting point.
Mantra Bio is harnessing exosomes to deliver safe, highly targeted medicines. We are the creator of REVEAL™, an exosome engineering platform combining computational biology and lab automation to generate targeted exosome vehicles (TEVs) for a broad set of therapeutic areas.