Express breaks the barrier to protect tumors, and US$65 million helps develop potential "first-in-class" therapies

▎Parthenon Therapeutics, editor of WuXi AppTec's content team, announced today that it has received US$65 million in Series A financing
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The company plans to use the funds to develop new types of treatments that transform the tumor microenvironment and destroy cancer immune rejection
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Approximately 50% of human cancers build a barrier against immune attack
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These barriers have different forms: for example, mechanical barriers due to abnormal vascular proliferation and matrix fibrosis can make it difficult for therapeutic drugs or immune cells to penetrate into the tumor.
Cytokines, metabolic factors and immunosuppressive cells can provide the function of inhibiting the activity of immune cells.
Sexual barrier
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Many recent advances in immuno-oncology and cell therapy aim to overcome functional barriers
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The Parthenon company decided to break the mechanical barrier that protects the tumor by reprogramming the tumor microenvironment
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The company believes that this will hopefully lead to innovative treatment models
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Today, Parthenon’s partners published a pre-clinical study in Nature
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Researchers have discovered a key molecule called DDR1 in certain types of breast cancer, which plays an important role in stabilizing tumor extracellular matrix (ECM)
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DDR1 is a multi-domain collagen receptor expressed in a variety of human tumors including triple negative breast cancer (TNBC)
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This study found that DDR1 molecules can organize the extracellular matrix into a highly ordered state.
These substances are tightly arranged around the tumor, like the barbed wire surrounding the tumor, preventing immune cells from entering the tumor
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Neutralizing DDR1 can destroy the mechanical barrier around the tumor and promote the infiltration of immune cells into the tumor, thereby destroying the cells inside the tumor
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Related reading: Today's "Nature": Why is the most dangerous breast cancer difficult to treat? The Chinese team unearthed key clues.
Researchers have demonstrated in multiple preclinical models that knocking out the DDR1 gene can not only prevent tumor growth, but also protect mice from future tumors
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Combining these new findings, researchers have further developed a therapeutic DDR1 targeting antibody.
Parthenon believes that PRTH-101 developed based on this has a positive prospect as a potential future therapy for a wide range of cancers
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Dr.
Laurent Audoly, Co-founder and CEO of Parthenon, said: "Parthenon's goal is to develop potential'first-in-class' therapeutic drugs, which have the potential to improve the survival rate of many cancer patients
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We focus on tumor micro The environment is reprogrammed to attack the protective barrier constructed by half of human cancers to resist immune attacks
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We believe this is a novel method that may create a new type of anti-cancer therapy
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"Reference: [1] Parthenon Therapeutics Raises $65 Million in Series A Funding to Advance Oncology Programs Aimed at Reprogramming the Tumor Microenvironment.
Retrieved November 3, 2021, from https://parthenontx.
com/news#[2] Sun, X .
, et, al.
(2021).
Tumour DDR1 promotes collagen fibre alignment to instigate immune exclusion.
Nature.
Published.
https://doi.
org/10.
1038/s41586-021-04057-2 Disclaimer: WuXi AppTec Content Team Focus on introducing the global biomedical health research progress
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