Saccharo is a preclinical oncology company developing therapies that target the polysaccharide dPSA, which is specifically expressed on cancer cells and linked to the nuclear protein nucleolin. This approach addresses the challenge of off-target toxicity and treatment resistance associated with conventional cancer therapies by providing a selective mechanism to kill cancer cells.
Funding
$11.5M 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 cancer drug targets are not uniquely expressed on cancer cells, leading to off-target toxicity and damaging side effects. Furthermore, cancer cells can develop resistance to treatment when protein targets mutate, rendering the drug ineffective.
Solution
Saccharo is developing cancer therapies that target a highly conserved polysaccharide, de-N-acetyl-polysialic acid (dPSA), which is specifically expressed on cancer cells and linked to the nuclear protein nucleolin. This approach offers a selective mechanism to kill cancer cells, potentially as a potent monotherapy with improved safety profiles. Saccharo's anti-dPSA platform generates high-affinity antibody lead drug candidates with unique targeting properties, addressing the limitations of conventional cancer therapies by minimizing off-target effects and reducing the likelihood of treatment resistance. The company is also exploring multi-modality drug formats and diagnostic screening applications based on the dPSA platform.
Target Audience
The primary target audience includes patients with solid tumors and hematologic cancers, as well as oncologists seeking more targeted and effective therapies with reduced toxicity.
Features
- Targets dPSA, a polysaccharide highly and specifically expressed on cancer cells.
- Exploits the association between dPSA and nucleolin on the surface of cancer cells.
- Developing antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for broad oncology applications.
- High-affinity antibody lead drug candidates with demonstrated unique targeting properties.
- Multi-modality drug formats under development to optimize binding to a range of cancer types.