The startup develops plant-derived compound medicines that target DNA breakage by utilizing five isolated compounds to activate repair pathways. This approach prevents the emergence of drug-resistant strains and eliminates potential escape routes for cancer cells.
Funding
$200K 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 cells often develop resistance to drug treatments by activating DNA damage response (DDR) pathways, allowing them to repair drug-induced DNA damage and survive. Current cancer therapies may not effectively prevent these escape routes, leading to treatment failure and disease recurrence.
Solution
SwaLife Biotech develops plant-derived medicines that target DNA breakage and activate DNA repair pathways in normal cells while inhibiting DNA repair in cancer cells. The company isolates novel small molecules, including polyphenols and alkaloids, from plants and screens them using high-content screening assays. Toxic fractions are de-replicated using LC-MS/MS and Q-tof to identify compounds that can be modified to target proteins from DNA damage response. This approach aims to prevent the emergence of drug-resistant strains and eliminate potential escape routes for cancer cells by leveraging the principle of synthetic lethality.
Target Audience
The primary target audience includes pharmaceutical companies interested in out-licensing skin care and nutraceuticals, as well as those seeking to collaborate on further development of cancer therapeutics.
Features
- Proprietary technology to isolate novel small molecules (polyphenols and alkaloids) from plants
- High-content screening (HCS) assays to identify bioactive and toxic extracts
- Liquid-liquid fractionation to separate bioactive fractions for nutraceuticals and skin care, and toxic fractions for cancer therapeutics
- LC-MS/MS and Q-tof for de-replication of toxic fractions to predict compound structures
- Molecular docking to modify and identify more bioactive compounds on targeted proteins from DNA damage response
- Zebrafish embryo assays to confirm compound activity
- Animal model studies to validate results before Phase 0 studies
- Product pipeline includes anti-aging cream (SwaLife Advanced Antiageing Revitalizing Cream), liver tonic syrup (Swaliv), and other products in Phase 0 development