Therapeutic:

Our proprietary approach is groundbreaking. We leverage carbohydrate functionality which makes our recombinant glycoprotein First-in-Class. The drug target is Galectin-3, known to be critical in multiple facets of cancer biology, including cell adhesion, cell activation, chemo-attraction, cell growth and differentiation, cell cycle, and apoptosis (see Figure 1a).

Our GM glycoprotein drug candidates are:

Exceptionally potent with picomolar Kd (100X stronger than a typical antibody). GM drug candidates act as decoys, sequestering Galectin-3 so that it cannot participate in tumorigenic pathways (see Figure 1b). Our products have picomolar affinity to Galectin-3 and are unique as they outcompete Galectin-3’s natural affinity to its endogenous ligands.
No off target effects observed in animal models
Resistance risk is very low due to multiple modes of attack on cancer
- blocks angiogenesis (tumor’s lifeline to nutrition)
- blocks tumor cell extravasation (tumor’s first step to spreading/metastasize)
- promotes patient’s natural killer-T cell response (immune response to eradicate cancer cells)
Overcomes drug resistance in metastatic cancer

Relevant Publications:

1. Liu FT, Rabinovich GA: Galectins as modulators of tumor progression. Nat Rev Cancer 2005, 5: 29-41. [PubMed]
2. Johnson KD, Glinskii OV et al: Galectin-3 as a potential therapeutic target in tumors arising from malignant endothelia. Neoplasia 2007, 9: 662-670. [PubMed]
3. Guha P, Bandyopadhyaya G et al: Nicotine promotes apoptosis resistance of breast cancer cells and enrichment of side population cells with cancer stem cell like properties via a signaling cascade involving galectin-3, α9 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and STAT3. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2014, 145: 5-22. [PubMed]
4. Glinskii OV, Sud S et al: Inhibition of prostate cancer bone metastasis by synthetic TF antigen mimic/galectin-3 inhibitor lactulose-l-leucine. Neoplasia 2012, 14: 65-73. [PubMed]
5. Guha P, Kaptan E et al: Cod glycopeptides with picomolar affinity to galectin-3 suppresses T-cell apoptosis and prostate cancer metastasis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2013, 110: 5052-5057. [PubMed]