Sui Huang, MD, PhD, Pioneering Cancer Biology Researcher, Joins Thetis Pharmaceuticals Scientific Advisory Board (10/13/2021)
RIDGEFIELD, CT – (October 13, 2021) – Thetis Pharmaceuticals LLC (“Thetis”), a biopharmaceutical company developing Resolvin-based therapies to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases, announced today that Dr. Sui Huang has joined its Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Huang is a molecular and cellular biologist with expertise in systems biology of cancer progression and inflammation.
Gary Mathias, Chief Executive Officer of Thetis, commented, “As a result of Dr. Huang’s seminal discoveries in gene regulatory networks and non-genetic dynamics of tumor progression, we have a deeper appreciation of protumor inflammation as a key driver of tumor progression, metastasis, and therapy-induced resistance. These insights underlie the focus of our lead cancer drug, TP-317, a unique resolvin-based therapy that activates the body’s natural inflammation resolution pathways to treat solid tumor cancers.”
Dr. Huang added, "Existing cancer therapies designed to kill tumor cells are inherently a double-edged sword. By triggering cell death, these therapies lead to an inflammatory response that paradoxically promotes tumor growth and consequently limits their efficacy. Mechanistically, Resolvins reprogram the tumor microenvironment to counteract the protumor effects that inevitably accompany cell killing caused by the cancer treatment itself, by clearing cell debris, downregulating inflammatory cytokines, and promoting anti-tumor immunity.”
Since 2011, Dr. Huang has been a professor at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), a Seattle-based biomedical research organization. The Huang Laboratory at ISB is focused on investigating the interface between normal cell development and tumor cell development, and the integral role played by chronic inflammation in triggering this transformation. Dr. Huang obtained his doctorates in medicine and molecular biology at the University of Zurich in 1995. After completing postdoctoral training in cancer biology, he joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School in Boston and subsequently moved to the University of Calgary to work alongside Stuart Kauffman on gene regulatory networks and cancer differentiation therapy. In 2019, Dr. Huang was announced as a member of a global research team funded with a $25 million grant from Cancer Research UK to find novel ways of treating cancers directed at inflammation as a root cause of tumor initiation and progression.
About TP-317
TP-317 is a patent-protected small molecule drug that delivers Resolvin E1 (RvE1), a lipid mediator that actively coordinates the return to immune homeostasis. Unlike anti-inflammatory drugs and anti-cancer agents that are immuno-suppressive, TP-317 modulates innate and adaptive immune pathways to treat disease without compromising host-protective immunity.
Cancer Program: In cancer, TP-317 is being developed as an adjunct to immune checkpoint inhibitors in refractory metastatic melanoma and advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and as adjunct to second line chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer. Subcutaneous TP-317 has demonstrated potent single agent activity in melanoma, lung and pancreatic cancer tumor models, and enhanced efficacy when combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors or chemotherapy in “immune cold” and immune-responsive tumors. In the same studies, TP-317 has been shown to promote myeloid cell antigen presentation functions and increased expression of an IFN-y gene signature in the TME, which may contribute to TP-317’s robust anti-tumoral effects.
IBD Program: In inflammatory bowel disease, TP-317 is being developed as a first-line oral therapy for mild-to-moderate Crohn’s disease and as second-line oral therapy for mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis patients who are not well controlled on 5-ASA or corticosteroids. In colitis models, oral TP-317 dosed once daily has shown efficacy in DSS, TNBS, TNFΔARE and T-cell transfer colitis models. In DSS-induced colitis, TP-317 has shown comparable efficacy to 5-ASA and the JAK inhibitor filgotinib and enhanced efficacy when combined with 5-ASA. Mechanistically, RvE1 has demonstrated the unique ability to shift the inflamed mucosa towards immune homeostasis and promotes intestinal barrier repair, a key driver and measure of efficacy in human IBD.
About Thetis Pharmaceuticals
Thetis is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the lives of patients suffering from cancer and autoimmune diseases. Thetis’ proprietary HEALER™ technology platform enables the pharmaceutical development of Resolvins, a class of endogenous lipid mediators that regulate immune homeostasis by resolving inflammation and clearing cell debris. Thetis’ HEALER™ technology overcomes the stability, manufacturing, and formulation hurdles that have limited the development of Resolvins as pharmaceutical agents, unlocking their robust pharmacology to be developed as first-in-class small molecule drugs.
Disclaimer
TP-317 is an investigational drug product that has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
For more information, please visit Thetis Pharmaceuticals’ website (http://thetispharma.com) and follow Thetis on Twitter (@thetispharma).
Contact Information
Gary Mathias, CEO
gmathias@thetispharma.com