We are leveraging the biology of the human innate immune system to pioneer groundbreaking investigational therapeutics for the treatment of transplant rejection and autoimmune diseases. Our mission is to identify and develop safer and more effective alternatives to traditional immunosuppressive therapies for patients in need.

Individuals suffering from transplant rejection and autoimmune diseases need safer, more tolerable, and more effective treatments

Calcineurin-inhibitors (CNI) such as cyclosporine and tacrolimus are powerful, narrow therapeutic index immunosuppressants used as current standard of care in the prevention and treatment of solid organ transplant rejection and autoimmune disorders.

CNI-based immunosuppression is generally considered effective over the short term, but due to toxicity requires careful monitoring and poses serious risks and long-term adverse effects to patients including neurologic and kidney injury.

CNI intolerance leading to medication non-adherence occurs in >50% of kidney transplant patients and directly leads to allosensitization and chronic antibody mediated rejection. This may lead to loss of the transplanted organ and for kidney transplant recipients, a return to a life spent on dialysis.

Safer and more effective treatments for acute and chronic organ transplant maintenance and autoimmune disorders are urgently needed.

Our Approach

We are focused on the promising field of Regulatory T cell (“Treg”) biology. Tregs are a key component in maintaining a healthy and balanced innate immune system. Transplant recipients and autoimmune disease patients suffer from a deficiency of Tregs, hence the urgent need to find ways to enhance the number of these cells circulating in the body. Leveraging intellectual property exclusively licensed from world renowned Cedars Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles, California), we are developing an investigational therapeutic drug candidate focusing on a novel biological pathway of the human innate immune system. When triggered, this proprietary mechanism of action boosts the number of circulating Tregs with the potential to alleviate the detrimental effects of an overactive immune system. If successful in future clinical studies, our therapeutic drug candidate could help patients in need without the toxicity of today’s mainstay immunosuppressant drugs such as calcineurin inhibitors. We are also exploring this novel axis of immunobiology for the development of additional therapeutic drug programs.

Meet the Team