Alphina Therapeutics develops antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) that utilize novel NAMPT inhibitor payloads to target and eliminate both dividing and non-dividing tumor cells. The company pairs these next-generation ADC candidates with a proprietary diagnostic test to precisely identify patients most likely to respond to NAMPT inhibitor therapy. This precision approach aims to deliver superior, effective cancer treatments for a broader patient population than existing targeted therapies.
Funding
$16.9M raised to dateRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
Founders
Product
Problem
Many solid tumors rely on the NAMPT enzyme for NAD+ production, a critical co-factor for cell survival. Broad NAMPT inhibition can lead to systemic toxicities, limiting its therapeutic potential in cancer treatment. Identifying patients most likely to respond to NAMPT inhibition remains a challenge.
Solution
Alphina Therapeutics is developing a selective NAMPT inhibitor designed to induce synthetic lethality in solid tumors. Their approach includes a proprietary patient selection assay to identify the subset of patients (approximately 30%) most likely to benefit from NAMPT inhibition. By targeting patients with a specific tumor signature and optimizing the molecule to reduce off-target effects, Alphina aims to improve efficacy and minimize the toxicities associated with earlier-generation NAMPT inhibitors. This targeted strategy seeks to enhance the therapeutic index of NAMPT inhibition in cancers such as non-small cell lung, small cell lung, colorectal, and ovarian tumors.
Target Audience
The primary target audience includes patients with solid tumors, specifically non-small cell lung, small cell lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancers, who are identified as likely responders by the company's proprietary assay.
Features
- Selective NAMPT inhibitor designed for enhanced efficacy and reduced toxicity
- Proprietary patient selection assay to identify likely responders
- Synthetic lethality approach to target cancer cells dependent on NAMPT
- Optimized small molecule structure to mitigate off-target effects