A Precision Medicine-Driven Development Strategy
Our evolved understanding of nucleotide signaling pathways in the tumor micro-environment and their associated effects on immune activity makes the discovery of highly specific therapeutic candidates and important predictive biomarkers possible. This precision medicine approach ensures we develop medicines with the right targets, tailored to the right patients.
With this knowledge, we can design highly focused and rigorous clinical trials for our pipeline of clinical candidates to assess efficacy, safety and tolerability, confirm mechanisms of action, and validate relevant biomarkers. This also provides a strong foundation to explore the potential of these candidates both as monotherapies, and in combination with standard of care therapies.
A Two-Pronged Approach to Optimizing Anti-Tumor Immunity
Anti-tumor immune responses are rapidly suppressed by immunological checkpoints that overexpress ENPP1 and overproduce adenosine.
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ENPP1, an immunosuppressive and metastasis-promoting risk factor, correlates with poor patient outcomes and resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors, including antiPD-1/PD-L1 antibodies.
ENPP1 degrades cGAMP, a key immuno-activating second messenger that flags immune cells for attack by the immune system. Inhibiting ENPP1 causes key immune effector cells to flux into the tumor as a result of increased levels of cGAMP and increased expression of inflammatory cytokines in the tumor. ENPP1 inhibition has a second positive effect on anti-tumor immunity through the reduction of extracellular adenosine, an immune suppressor. Angarus has developed potent and selective small molecule inhibitors of ENPP1 that block tumor growth and prevent metastases, both alone and in combination with checkpoint inhibitors and other standard-of-care cancer treatments.
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Reducing extracellular adenosine, an immunosuppressor that drives tumor progression and enables tumor cells to escape the immune system.
Inhibition of extracellular adenosine signaling regulates the innate and adaptive anti-tumor immune responses by enhancing T cell and natural killer cell functions and suppressing the pro-tumor effects of immunoregulatory cells, including myeloid cells. Distinct from ENPP1 targeting, Angarus is developing therapies that modulate extracellular adenosine by targeting ectonucleotidases, including CD-39 and CD-73.
Our Pipeline
Discovery that Transcends Oncology
Beyond cancer, these immune-mediating pathways underlie a broad range of devastating diseases and conditions impacting patients with limited or suboptimal treatment options. Based on our understanding of this pathway biology, we are developing a pipeline of immune modulating therapeutics with the potential to improve outcomes for many underserved patient populations.
We are passionately pursuing our mission and growing our platform by advancing opportunities that arise from our own research, and from partners who share our vision.