Hiba Therapeutics
Hiba Therapeutics is developing ALPs (Antibody Linker Peptides), a biologic platform that acts as a molecular lock requiring two independent tumor signals to activate T cells selectively within solid tumors. This AND-gate mechanism keeps the therapy inert in healthy tissue, avoiding systemic toxicity. The lead lung cancer program demonstrated over 70% complete response in preclinical studies of highly aggressive tumors.
- Drug Discovery & Therapeutics
- Biotechnology
- Healthcare Technology
Funding
Founders
Founder details are not available yet.
Product
Problem
Current T cell engagers activate immune cells throughout the body, causing systemic toxicity and severe side effects that limit their therapeutic window. Other treatment modalities such as antibody-drug conjugates carry off-target payload risks, while cell therapies are patient-specific, complex, and difficult to scale for broad clinical use.
Solution
Hiba Therapeutics is developing ALPs (Antibody Linker Peptides), a biologic platform that functions as a molecular lock, requiring two independent tumor signals—a tumor-surface antigen and a tumor-microenvironment protease—to activate T cells. This AND-gate mechanism keeps the therapy inert in healthy tissue and restricts T cell killing power to the tumor site, preventing collateral damage. The lead program is focused on lung cancer, where preclinical studies in highly aggressive animal models demonstrated over 70% complete response rates. The platform is designed as an off-the-shelf biologic, enabling scalable manufacturing and broad clinical application across solid tumor indications.
Target Audience
Primary customers are biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies engaged in oncology drug development, particularly those seeking safer alternatives to existing T cell engagers or ADC modalities for solid tumor indications.
Features
- AND-gated dual-signal activation mechanism requiring both a tumor-surface antigen and tumor-specific protease for T cell engagement
- Lead program showed >70% complete response in preclinical studies of aggressive lung cancer
- Ablation studies confirmed the AND-gate mechanism's selectivity
- No toxicity detected across six organ systems in preclinical evaluation
- No Treg activation, distinguishing it from CD3-based T cell engagers
- Off-the-shelf biologic platform designed for scalable manufacturing, unlike patient-specific cell therapies