Bringing Targeted Therapies
to Patients in Need
We discover and target the hidden genetic vulnerabilities of the two thirds of cancers driven by loss-of-function mutations. By using our novel OncoSLX platform™ to retarget de-risked clinical-stage drugs, we accelerate drug development, reduce translational risk and deliver better patient outcomes.
Our Focus
Two thirds of cancers are driven by genetic mutations that cause a critical gene not to function. These cancers can be treated by exploiting a biological phenomenon known as synthetic lethality. A synthetic lethality relationship exists if a cell needs one of two genes in a pair (but not both) to be functioning in order to survive. If a cancer cell has a genetic mutation that turns off the functioning of one gene, there may be a paired gene that can be targeted to cause cancer cell death through synthetic lethality.
Our Approach
Our proprietary OncoSLX platform enables a unique pharmacologically based approach to finding synthetic lethality relationships. It uses drugs rather than genetic knock-outs to identify vulnerabilities induced by loss of function mutations. Because small molecules can modulate diverse biological mechanisms beyond a simple gene knockout, our screens reveal a much broader spectrum of actionable vulnerabilities than conventional synthetic-lethality methods can uncover.
Our Pipeline
Our lead product candidate, LFB190, is a potentially first-in-class and best-in-class BET inhibitor targeting cancers driven by EP300 loss of function mutations – an area of significant unmet clinical need. Our platform has also identified a potentially practice changing approach to treating PIK3CA mutant cancers and several other novel, high potential genetically targeted therapies.
