Pephexia Therapeutics develops peptide-based pharmacotherapies targeting cancer cachexia, a metabolic syndrome affecting up to 80% of cancer patients, characterized by severe weight loss and muscle wasting. Their approach addresses the unmet medical need for effective treatments that improve patient quality of life and survival by counteracting tumor-driven metabolic changes.
Funding
$1.6M 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
Cancer cachexia, a metabolic syndrome affecting a significant portion of cancer patients, leads to severe weight loss, muscle wasting, and reduced quality of life. Current nutritional interventions often fail to reverse the tumor-driven metabolic changes that characterize this condition. This creates a substantial unmet need for effective pharmacotherapies.
Solution
Pephexia Therapeutics is developing novel peptide-based pharmacotherapies to combat cancer cachexia, sarcopenia, and related wasting diseases. Their approach focuses on counteracting the tumor-driven metabolic abnormalities that cause unintended loss of body weight, particularly skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. By targeting the underlying mechanisms of cachexia, such as proinflammatory cytokine secretion and dysregulated appetite signaling, Pephexia aims to improve patient outcomes and survival rates. Their peptide therapeutics are designed to address the limitations of nutritional supplementation alone, offering a more effective and convenient treatment option.
Target Audience
The primary target audience includes cancer patients experiencing cachexia, as well as healthcare providers specializing in oncology and supportive care.
Features
- Peptide-based therapeutics designed to modulate metabolic abnormalities associated with cancer cachexia
- Focus on naturally occurring peptide hormones
- Targets tumor-related proinflammatory cytokine secretion to reduce catabolic effects
- Aims to restore appetite signaling, increase lipid storage, and promote muscle protein synthesis
- Clinical candidate PEP-366 in development for cancer cachexia
- Research collaboration with Yale University to investigate the mode-of-action of novel peptide drug candidates