Staying ahead of the technology curve means strengthening your competitive advantage. That is why we give you data-driven innovation insights into the pharma industry. This time, you get to discover 5 hand-picked startups tackling lung cancer.
Global Startup Heat Map: 5 Top Startups Tackling Lung Cancer
The 5 pharma startups you will explore below are chosen based on our data-driven startup scouting approach, taking into account factors such as location, founding year, and relevance of technology, among others. This analysis is based on the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering over 1.3 million startups & scaleups globally.
The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights the 5 pharma startups & scaleups our Innovation Researchers curated for this report. Moreover, you get insights into regions that observe a high startup activity and the global geographic distribution of the 227 companies we analyzed for this specific topic.
Apollomics – Monoclonal Antibodies
Lung cancer is treatable with BioTech advances in monoclonal antibodies. These antibodies enable targeted chemotherapy delivery to the tumors. Pharma startups use AI and machine learning (ML) to facilitate the development of monoclonal antibodies and other small molecule inhibitors.
Australian startup Apollomics develops humanized monoclonal antibodies to help the immune system recognize and kill cancer cells. The startup’s lead drug candidate, APL-101, is a highly selective small-molecule c-Met inhibitor (c-METi) that targets the c-Met-dysregulated pathway in several tumors, including pancreatic cancer and lung cancer. Dysregulated c-Met is an important factor in cancer development that includes tumor growth, survival, invasions, and metastasis. APL-101 is currently undergoing the evaluation process for clinical trials.
ElyssaMed – Antigenic Peptides
Traditional cancer treatments include chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgical intervention. These solutions often cause harmful side effects such as nausea, fatigue, hair loss, and skin conditions. Immunotherapeutic solutions introduce antigenic peptides to evoke an immune response against specific types of cancer cells. Pharma startups are investigating these as more promising treatments for lung cancer.
French startup ElyssaMed leverages antigenic peptides as immunotherapeutic solutions for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and neuroendocrine tumors. The startup’s lead candidate, EM-03, is a combination of selected proprietary immunogenic peptides that target specific lung tumor-associated antigens. The drug delivery mode includes an intradermal injection and a cancer vaccine adjuvant.
NanOlogy – Targeted Drug Delivery
Chemotherapy sessions typically take between half an hour up to four hours, depending on the cancer stage and the prescribed dosage. However, the bioavailability of the drugs remains a challenge. Hence, global pharma startups and scaleups devise innovative drug delivery systems and mechanisms that improve the bioavailability of chemotherapy drugs.
The US-based startup NanOlogy develops a patented submicron particle technology that delivers a high and sustained concentration of chemo-immunology agents directly to the tumor site. The startup offers intratumoral administration of the paclitaxel or docetaxel injection, designed for intravenous administration, to quickly and locally diffuse out of the tumor. NanOlogy also provides NanoPac and NanoDoce drug particles that become entrapped in the tumor enabling the sustained drug release over a period of time.
ViruCure Therapeutics – Oncolytic Virus
The CRISPR gene editing technology offers promise in cancer treatments with the help of viral vectors. The destruction of cancer cells with engineered, oncolytic viruses opens up promising cancer treatments. Additionally, viral vectors trigger an immune response in the host and aid in the attack against cancerous cells. To this end, startups develop virus-based cancer treatment solutions to treat lung cancer.
Israeli startup ViruCure Therapeutics is developing NADAV, an oncolytic virus-based technology platform using proprietary strains of the Newcastle disease virus (NDV). The virus mainly affects birds and humans do not have any antibodies against it due to a lack of exposure. This makes it is an ideal solution for testing oncolytic effects. Unlike traditional cancer drugs, NADAV exhibits replication beyond the initial therapeutic dose, spreading to metastases.
Harpoon Therapeutics – T-Cell Therapeutics
Immunotherapeutic treatments that modify T-cells from patients to fight cancer cells result in improved cancer treatment. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) cell therapy is an innovative avenue for cancer treatment. Pharma startups are developing develop T-cell therapeutics to fight many cancers, including lung cancer.
The US-based startup Harpoon Therapeutics develops T cell-engaging bispecific antibodies to treat lung cancer. The startup’s lead candidate, HPN328, is a new therapeutic modality that is stable in the bloodstream. It also exhibits long serum half-life, allowing for convenient dosing. The startup’s solutions are small enough to diffuse faster into tumor tissue.
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