Background
PEP-Therapy is building upon research performed at the Sorbonne University (formerly UPMC, France’s leading scientific and medical university) and Institut Curie (Europe’s leading cancer center).
These institutions contribute their scientific and medical expertise, unique preclinical models and clinical trial capacities to the PEP-Therapy project.
Description of the Products / Services / Technology
PEP-010 is PEP-Therapy’s first CP&IP-based product and a first-in-class targeted approach to cancer treatment. PEP-010 specifically disrupts the Caspase9/PP2A protein-protein interaction.
In so doing, it:
- triggers apoptosis (death) in cancer cells without harming healthy cells;
- leaves the other signaling pathways intact, limiting therefore the risk of side effects.
PEP-Therapy has also pre-validated predictive companion biomarkers for the identification of patients likely to respond well to PEP-010 treatment.
Following upon the proof of concept for its first product, PEP-Therapy will accelerate the use of its CP&IP technology, both internally and in partnerships with pharmaceutical & biotech companies (licensing, co-developments, etc.), on other intracellular targets.
The company is currently developing a second drug candidate, PEP-020, for the treatment of uveal melanoma, a rare disease with high medical need.
Customer references / Collaborations / Highlights
The drug-candidate PEP-010 has demonstrated preclinical proof of concept (Arrouss et al., 2013) in:
- the cells of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, where PEP-010 induces death of tumor B cells without affecting healthy cells (T, NK, monocytes), demonstrating the specificity of tumor targeting;
- patient-derived xenograft (PDX) animal models, where PEP-010 inhibits tumor growth of breast (including triple-negative) and ovary primary tumors.
Additionally, GLP-toxicity studies in murine and simian models have been completed, showing good systemic tolerance for PEP-010.
The Phase I/II clinical trial is being prepared in partnership with Institut Curie and the Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre.
PEP-Therapy raised €2.5 million in initial funding, invested by the Quadrivium 1 seed fund, managed by Seventure Partners, and Dr. Bernard Majoie, former Chairman and CEO of Laboratoires Fournier.
Collaborations sought
Investors and pharma/biotech companies for the development of PEP-Therapy’s initial therapeutic products and biomarkers, and for the exploitation of the CP&IP technology.
