DISCO Pharmaceuticals operates a surfaceome mapping platform that identifies proteins and their communities on cancer cell surfaces, enabling the discovery of novel druggable targets. This technology addresses the limited availability of cancer-selective targets, facilitating the development of therapies that enhance treatment efficacy while minimizing side effects for patients.
Funding
$22M 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
The development of effective cancer therapies is hindered by a limited number of known cancer-selective cell surface targets. This restricts the application of promising treatment modalities, such as biologics like antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates, leading to a need for novel, readily druggable targets.
Solution
DISCO Pharmaceuticals employs a surfaceome mapping platform to identify and characterize proteins and their communities on cancer cell surfaces, expanding the landscape of potential drug targets. This platform enables a comprehensive cartography of the cancer cell surface, revealing previously inaccessible targets for therapeutic intervention. By identifying protein communities, DISCO's technology facilitates the development of cancer-selective therapies, including mono-specific and bi-specific antibodies, with the goal of enhancing treatment efficacy and minimizing side effects. The platform is designed to be agnostic to therapeutic modality and modular in application to cellular states.
Target Audience
DISCO Pharmaceuticals' primary customers are pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies focused on developing novel cancer therapeutics, as well as research institutions seeking to expand the understanding of cancer cell biology and identify new drug targets.
Features
- Scalable platform for comprehensive mapping of the cancer cell surfaceome
- Identification of novel proteins and protein communities as potential drug targets
- Target discovery agnostic to therapeutic modality (e.g., antibodies, ADCs, T cell engagers)
- Modular application to various cellular states
- Focus on targets for both mono-specific and bi-specific antibody development
- Initial discovery programs focused on Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) and microsatellite-stable Colorectal Cancer (MSS CRC)