In this Q&A with Drug Target Review, Dr Lev Becker, Associate Professor, University of Chicago and Cofounder of Onchilles Pharma, reveals how the company is directing research into neutrophil biology to create new therapeutics for cancer patients that need it most. Read the article below or download the article by clicking here.
Natallie Rocha of the San Diego Business Journal talked with Onchilles after the announcement of a $7 million Series A financing. “The infusion of funding will bolster Onchilles’ development of a new cancer treatment and finding the Achilles heel of oncology as the biotech’s name suggests,” said Court R. Turner, co-founder and executive chair of…
Lev Becker spent about six years studying how to release neutrophile elastase from human neutrophils so it could select cancer cell types that need killing and ignore non-cancer cells. That research eventually led to a recent publication in Cell and the launch of Onchilles Pharma Inc. To read the full article, click here.
– Foundational research published today in Cell is the first to describe ELANE, a major anti-cancer protein released by human neutrophils that activates cell death pathways specifically in cancer cells – ELANE demonstrates broad and selective cancer killing efficacy and attenuation of tumor growth and metastases in multiple preclinical models – Financing will advance the…
A study published in the June 10, 2021 issue of Cell describes a remarkable new mechanism by which the body’s own immune system can eliminate cancer cells without damaging host cells. The findings have the potential to develop first-in-class medicines that are designed to be selective for cancer cells and non-toxic to normal cells and…
Onchilles Pharma recently closed its Series A funding round, bringing in approximately $7 million, including a $500,000 investment from the University of Chicago’s Startup Investment Fund. Cofounded by UChicago Associate Professor of Ben May Department of Cancer Research, Lev Becker, and LYZZ Capital Partner, Court Turner, the company is developing first-in-class medicines that are designed…
Although cancer therapies are becoming increasingly specific to the tumour and mutation type, a potent tumour-agnostic and mutation-agnostic targeted agent would have a high overall therapeutic utility. Writing in Cell, Cui and colleagues have identified that neutrophil elastase (ELANE), via CD95 (also known as FASL and tumour necrosis factor ligand superfamily member 6) and histone…
Neutrophil elastase (ELANE) killed tumors of diverse types but spared neighboring healthy tissue. To read the full article, click here (subscription required).