Targeting Calnexin to Treat Cancer and Inflammation
Albatroz Therapeutics is developing first-in-class antibody therapeutics targeting glycosylated Calnexin, a cell-surface target critical to the integrity of the extracellular matrix, to treat solid tumors and inflammatory diseases.
Our scienceA Unique Target Expressed on the Surface of Diseased Cells
Calnexin normally works inside the cell, folding proteins. In cancer and in chronic inflammation, a glycosylation pathway moves it to the cell surface, where it cuts the bonds holding surrounding tissue together. A degraded extracellular matrix allows tumors to grow and spread; the same mechanism also drives degradation of synovial cartilage in arthritic joints and epithelial lining in the gastrointestinal tract.
Glycosylated Calnexin is highly expressed on the surface of diseased cells, but has not been detected on healthy cells. That is what makes it a target: our antibodies reach diseased tissue and leave the rest of the body alone.
Two Programs, One Mechanism
The same target drives tumor growth and metastasis, as well as tissue damage in chronic inflammation: one mechanism, two disease areas. Both have high unmet medical need, and no approved therapy today blocks the tissue degradation directly.
Oncology
An antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) for gastrointestinal cancers, with a companion diagnostic that selects patients on target expression.
Inflammation
Antibodies that block the tissue degradation driving arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a mechanism no approved immunosuppressant addresses.