Vienna, Austria, 24 October 2024: QUANTRO Therapeutics (QUANTRO), a pioneer in the discovery of first-in-class transcription factor targeting cancer treatments, announced today that the company is entering into a strategic research collaboration with the group of Dr. Johannes Zuber, a world-leading expert in functional genetics and one of the co-founders of QUANTRO, at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna, Austria. The goal of the collaboration is to investigate the molecular functions of transcription factor complexes that have emerged as promising targets for the development of cancer therapies.
Cancer cells depend on specific transcription factors – proteins that regulate gene expression – to maintain their abnormal behavior. While transcription factors have long been considered “undruggable”, new molecules have been found that trigger their degradation or disrupt interactions with essential co-factors. These advances have led to major breakthroughs in the treatment of some cancer types. However, existing drugs targeting transcription have often been found only through serendipity, while their systematic discovery and development have been hampered by a lack of scalable methods to directly measure transcriptional activity. The new collaboration focuses on expanding QUANTRO’s transcriptomic discovery approach by integrating genetic screening technologies to gain a deeper understanding of how transcription factors interact with co-factors and other regulatory proteins. The Zuber lab at the IMP has developed advanced genetic screening and validation assays to identify and characterize such key co-factors and regulators, thereby complementing QUANTRO’s activities building an innovative proprietary transcription factor targeting R&D pipeline. Dr. Johannes Zuber, Group Leader at the IMP, commented: “A detailed understanding of protein binding partners is essential for developing new drugs and refining existing hits. While finding compounds that bind to transcription factors is relatively straightforward, it is often unclear whether this binding event interferes with co-factor interactions or other critical protein functions. QUANTRO’s time-resolved transcriptomics technology can answer this question with unprecedented precision, and our genetic screens can pinpoint the relevant co-factors.” Dr. Michael Bauer, CEO of QUANTRO, added: “Our transcriptomic discovery platform addresses one of drug discovery’s greatest challenges – making previously ‘undruggable’ targets accessible. With our proprietary technology, we can instantly detect transcriptional changes with high precision, enabling us to focus on direct and immediate transcriptional responses. This partnership will further strengthen our capabilities and understanding of the biology of the targets we are working on by integrating the IMP’s exceptional research expertise and by providing access to complementary know-how and resources. Together, we aim to accelerate drug discovery for currently untreatable diseases.” Meet the QUANTRO management at BIO-Europe in Stockholm, November 4-6 Dr. Michael Bauer, CEO of QUANTRO, will participate in this important industry event and be available for personal meetings to discuss QUANTRO’s innovative approach to transcriptomic drug discovery. To schedule a meeting, please use the conference partnering system or reach out directly to Contact | QUANTRO. About QUANTRO: QUANTRO Therapeutics is a transcriptomic Drug Discovery and R&D company focused on building a highly innovative pipeline of modulators, inhibitors or degraders of transcription factors, transcriptional regulators and cell signaling targets. QUANTRO’s transcriptomic discovery platform is using a novel and proprietary time-resolved gene expression profiling technology to target gene transcription factors, thus far considered un-druggable. The technology is uniquely positioned to quantify changes in gene expression over time with unprecedented precision and sensitivity, overcoming the deficiencies of traditional RT-qPCR based technologies like DRUG-seq, which are limited to only measure RNA abundance, without information on transcriptional activity and dynamics. QUANTRO was founded in 2019 as a spin-out from the prestigious research institutes IMBA and IMP in Vienna, Austria. Since 2020, the company has been supported by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF) and Evotec as seed investors. In total, EUR 11 million was earned in milestone-driven tranches in 2020 and 2023, complemented by undisclosed proceeds from a strategic collaboration on selected oncology targets with Boehringer Ingelheim Oncology. Please find more information on our website at www.quantro-tx.com. About the IMP: The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna is a basic life science research institute largely sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim. With over 200 scientists from 40 countries, the IMP is committed to scientific discovery of fundamental molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying complex biological phenomena. The IMP is part of the Vienna BioCenter, one of Europe’s most dynamic life science hubs with 2,800 people from over 80 countries in six research institutions, two universities, and 40 biotech companies. For more information, please visit www.imp.ac.at, www.viennabiocenter.org. Contact QUANTRO Therapeutics GmbH Media Contact MC Services AG 24.10.2024 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News – a service of EQS Group AG. The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. |
Category Archives: Biotech Companies Austria
invIOs raises €8.2 million in a Series A to finance pipeline progress in immuno-oncology
- Funding secures ongoing pipeline progress and achievement of preclinical and clinical milestones
- Oral small molecule INV501: collaboration with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) making good progress; target validation and details of mechanism of action expected in Q1 2025
- Cell therapy INV441: pre-IND meeting with US FDA successfully completed; first-in-humans study in glioblastoma to start mid-2025 as part of a new collaboration with DFCI
- invIOs management to participate in LSX Inv€$tival Showcase™ in London on November 18th
VIENNA, Oct. 15, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — invIOs GmbH (“invIOs”), a privately held biotechnology company developing novel therapies for cancer, today announced that the company has raised €8.2 million in a Series A fundraising that includes strong participation from existing shareholders and Ligand Pharmaceuticals. Ligand recently acquired APEIRON, the former parent company of invIOs. This funding secures ongoing pipeline progress and achievement of clinical and preclinical milestones through 2025.
Peter Llewellyn-Davies, CEO & CFO of invIOs, said: “We are pleased to have raised these funds, which enables us to move our programs forward as planned. I am particularly grateful for the strong support of existing shareholders, as well as the commitment of our new shareholder, Ligand Pharmaceuticals.”
invIOs also provided an update on recent progress with its two lead anti-cancer programs, INV441 and INV501. The company has collaborations in glioblastoma with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) for both programs. The collaborations are being led by David Reardon, MD, Clinical Director, Center for Neuro-Oncology at the DFCI and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Reardon is a world-renowned expert in brain cancer, particularly glioblastoma research and treatment.
“We are thrilled with the progress of our collaboration with the DFCI for both our oral small molecule candidate, INV501, and now also our cell therapy candidate, INV441. With these two immune-oncological approaches, we are developing cancer therapies that have the potential to address major unmet needs in treating deadly tumors, and we are excited to continue our work to ultimately improve and save patients’ lives,” commented Romana Gugenberger, PhD, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer of invIOs.
INV501 first-in-class orally available small molecule. In July 2024, invIOs announced the selection of a lead candidate from its family of compounds. Preclinical testing has shown compelling efficacy and safety results with this candidate in both breast cancer and melanoma models, as well as the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and initiate anti-tumoral immune reactions.
IND-enabling toxicology studies are underway, and manufacturing under GMP conditions is in preparation. Target validation work is planned to be completed and details of the mechanism of action provided in Q1 2025.
INV441 cell therapy. INV441 uses tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) that are modified via siRNA inhibiting the immune checkpoint Cbl-b and administered directly to the tumor. This approach has demonstrated strong preclinical proof of concept in murine glioma models. In 2024, invIOs filed important IP around this program. invIOs recently held a pre-IND (Investigational New Drug) meeting with the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). In the meeting, the FDA provided helpful input for the planned Phase 1 study with INV441 which is planned to be conducted by the DFCI and is expected to initiate in mid-2025.
Meet invIOs management at LSX Inv€$tival Showcase™ in London on November 18th
Peter Llewellyn-Davies, CEO & CFO, and Romana Gugenberger, PhD, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, will give a company presentation and host 1X1 meetings at this important industry event. To schedule a meeting, please use the conference partnering system or contact: investors@invios.com.
About invIOs
invIOs is a privately held biotech company based in Vienna, Austria, focusing on the discovery and development of novel therapies for cancer. The invIOs team leverages deep expertise in immune system activation to develop individualized and targeted approaches against solid tumors. invIOs is advancing a pipeline of programs encompassing small molecule and cell therapy approaches.
INV501 is a novel small molecule candidate that can selectively enhance T cell mediated anti-tumor immune responses. INV501 is currently in preclinical testing and has demonstrated preclinical proof of concept with strong data in multiple solid tumor indications after oral administration. A lead candidate compound for clinical development has been selected, and IND-enabling studies are ongoing.
EPiC, invIOs’ proprietary cell therapy platform, enables rapid treatment of patients in an out-patient setting. EPiC is a technology platform that allows the creation of personalized cell therapies based on localized processing of a patient’s fresh immune cells. Proof of concept has been demonstrated via initial clinical results from the first asset from the EPiC platform, APN401. INV441, also derived from EPiC, is being developed for the treatment of glioblastoma and is in preclinical testing. invIOs has a collaboration with the DFCI for this program. Another EPiC program, INV451, is a novel CAR-T cell approach against lung cancer being developed with the Medical University of Innsbruck.
For further information, please visit www.invios.com and connect with us on LinkedIn.
Contacts
invIOs
Peter Llewellyn-Davies
CEO/CFO
T +43 1 8656577 0
Email: investors@invios.com
MC Services AG
Dr. Cora Kaiser, Dr. Regina Lutz
T +49 89 210 228 0
US: Laurie Doyle
T +1-339-832-0752
Email: invios@mc-services.eu
QUANTRO Therapeutics reaches a milestone in the collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim to develop first-in-class cancer treatments
Vienna, Austria, 04 June 2024: QUANTRO Therapeutics (QUANTRO), a pioneer in the discovery of first-in-class transcription factor targeting cancer treatments, announced today that the company has reached a key milestone in its joint R&D program with Boehringer Ingelheim. In successfully applying QUANTRO’s proprietary QUANTROseq® Transcriptional Fingerprint technology, all pre-set goals for technical proof-of-concept, cross-validation of HTS screening technology and identification of high-quality hits for a previously undruggable transcription factor were fully accomplished.
For many cancer patients there are no or only limited treatment options, which is why cancer remains to be a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly one in six deaths. Transcription factors have emerged as a promising class of therapeutic targets to address currently undruggable cancers. Transcription factors are central regulators of gene expression that are commonly dysregulated in cancer and have remained largely unamenable to pharmacological intervention. The joint R&D program, which was initiated in 2022, aims at changing the implied status quo via development of transformational, first-in-class cancer treatments.
Michael Bauer, CEO of QUANTRO, commented: “We are committed to drive a positive change for people affected by cancer, and to that end are looking forward to developing new mode of action compounds jointly with Boehringer Ingelheim. In reaching this milestone, QUANTRO Therapeutics continues to advance its leading transcriptomic R&D platform to build a highly innovative pipeline of modulators, inhibitors or degraders of transcription factors, transcriptional regulators and cell signaling targets.“
Norbert Kraut, Global Head of Cancer Research at Boehringer Ingelheim said: “We are excited and encouraged to see a very convincing and robust technology proof of concept, and highly attractive hits from the first screening that we can directly take to the next discovery and development stages. We look forward to further expanding our pipeline of first-in-class treatments to address the remaining high unmet patient need in cancer in partnership with QUANTRO.”
Upon accomplishment of this milestone, QUANTRO will receive an undisclosed milestone payment in addition to previously received upfront payments and R&D funding. The total potential transaction value may exceed EUR 500 million in form of R&D funding and success driven discovery, development, regulatory and commercial milestones.
About QUANTRO:
QUANTRO Therapeutics is a transcriptomic Drug Discovery and R&D company focused on building a highly innovative pipeline of modulators, inhibitors or degraders of transcription factors, transcriptional regulators and cell signaling targets. QUANTRO´s transcriptomic discovery platform is using a novel and proprietary time-resolved gene expression profiling technology to target gene transcription factors thus far considered un-druggable.
The technology is uniquely positioned to quantify changes in gene expression over time with unprecedented precision and sensitivity, overcoming the deficiencies of traditional RTqPCR based technologies like DrugSeq, which are limited to only measure RNA abundance, without information on transcriptional activity and dynamics.
QUANTRO was founded in in 2019 as Spin-out from the prestigious research institutes IMBA and IMP in Vienna, Austria, and since 2020 supported by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund BIVF and Evotec as SEED investors. In total EUR 11 million SEED financing were placed in milestone-driven tranches in 2020 and 2023.
Contact
QUANTRO Therapeutics GmbH
Dr. Michael Bauer, CEO
Mail: office@quantro-tx.com
Phone: +43 122 66001-20
www.quantro-tx.com
Media Contact
MC Services AG
Katja Arnold, Dr. Johanna Kobler, Shaun Brown
Phone: +49 89 210228 0
Mail: quantro@mc-services.eu
04.06.2024 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News – a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Archive at www.eqs-news.com
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Haplogen – haploid genetics tools
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