Introducing the “Interceptor” Approach – a “Novel” Way to Treat Cancer

Novelogics has identified an overlooked area in cancer biology that we believe represents a missing piece of the ‘cancer puzzle’. Unlike antibody drugs that attach directly to the cancer cell surface, our proprietary “antibody immunotherapy” acts as an “Interceptor” of unattached immunosuppressive proteins that have the capacity to shut down critical cancer-killing immune cells. This drug is specifically designed to enable effective restoration of these immune cells and to limit further immune suppression, thereby facilitating safe treatment for cancer patients while significantly extending their overall survival times and improving their quality of life.

The target proteins, soluble NKG2D ligands, have been identified as multi-mechanistic suppressors of the immune system in many forms of cancer. Thus, we believe our antibodies will be useful for treating a variety of cancers and will do so in a less toxic fashion without inducing debilitating side-effects. Patients should not get sick to get better, as the treatment reactivates the body’s own immune system allowing it to fight cancer more naturally.

How we are Different

More specifically, our antibody assets are differentiated from others in that they are only capable of binding the soluble NKG2D ligands (MICA and MICB) once they are shed from the tumor cell surface and not while surface bound. As a proof of principle, we demonstrated that a combination of our humanized antibody with a known immune modulator resulted in significant inhibition of a solid tumor prostate xenograft. These findings are currently being expanded to more fully assess functional MOA and to determine optimal drug characteristics and formats.

Therapeutic Opportunities

With the technology initially showing evidence of tumor inhibition in a prostate cancer model, we believe the therapeutic can be expanded to assess efficacy in other cancer models. It is expected to broadly treat the top 10 types of deadly cancers compared to more targeted drugs that are designed for one specific type of cancer. Our panel of humanized antibodies is currently being evaluated in further studies and has the opportunity to also work in other diseases.

At this time, these treatments form the cornerstone of an exciting new paradigm in cancer research that utilizes the power of the immune system and promises to be highly effective compared with traditional approaches to disease management.

Key Attributes of Our Drug

• Predicted to work in late-stage cancers: Target levels correlate with advancing cancers and induce substantial shut down of immune cells.
• Capable of treating blood cancers and solid tumors: Soluble target is detectable in patients with either type. May offer key advantages over other immunotherapies or targeted therapies.
• Designed with safety in mind: Unique drug design enables binding only to soluble target and not to the cell surface-localized target, and therefore should not induce serious side-effects such as autoimmunity.
• High affinity lead antibody candidate: Tight binding (pM) of antibody to drug target proven.
• Influences multiple cell types (a 1-2 punch): By design, our drug indirectly stimulates both innate and adaptive immune system arms by binding to immunosuppressive proteins allowing restoration of key cancer-fighting immune cells (NK, CD8+T).
• Opportunity for combination therapies: Unique proposed mechanism of action (MOA) should allow rational and safe combination treatments with other therapies to improve response rates.
• Epitope identified: Distinctive and patent protected epitope binding site defined for lead antibody.