Has anybody else noticed this?
Cell-specific targeting of cytokines is gaining some serious momentum, with prominent companies in the space - including Bright Peak Therapeutics and Asher Bio - garnering a lot of attention (and a lot of funding to advance their therapies into the clinic).
Bright Peak just closed on $90M in Series C on June 30 and Asher just closed on $55M back in May.
However, I've noticed something interesting...
It seems to me that the ImmunoSTAT from Cue Biopharma is far superior to most other platforms in many highly relevant aspects, but the company doesn't seem to be getting as much attention...or funding.
Here's what I mean.
I was able to uncover four aspects - though, I am sure there are some I have overlooked - that make the ImmunoSTAT a superior platform.
1. The ImmunoSTAT series offers higher degree of cell type-specificity - it is able to target highly specific T cell subsets based on their TCR. Most other platforms are simply directed by antibodies to common T cell targets like CD8, or PD-1.
2. While other platforms deliver a single cytokine per compound, CUE harbors 4 full-length IL-2 molecules per compound. This promotes a higher degree of immunogenic signaling per molecule-target interaction.
3. The ImmunoSTAT platform is not simply delivering a cytokine to a specific immune cell type, it is nucleating the formation of a full-blown immune synapse (TCR engagement AND IL-2 co-stimulation), eliciting a more comprehensive immunogenic signaling cascade and potentially more robust T cell stimulation.
4. ImmunoSTAT compounds are highly modular - the stimulatory cytokine and antigen peptide can be optimized depending on disease context, empowering the expansion of a diverse pipeline.
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My name is Jeff Martin. I am the Founder and Principal Consultant at Oncoleader, LLC. We provide biotech companies in the immuno-oncology space with a wide range of services to get your message to the right people.
Check out my website - linked in comments and below my profile pic - for more details
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***This post was in no way solicited by CUE and all of the opinions here are strictly my own.
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