SOTIO Biotech, a clinical stage immuno-oncology company owned by PPF Group is starting its phase 2 trial on patients with selected advanced/refractory solid tumors.

Brad Margus is co-founder and Executive Chairman of Cerevance, a drug discovery company advancing a robust pipeline of targeted treatments for patients with neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

SOT101 is an interleukin (IL)-15 superagonist that had demonstrated preclinical efficacy in various tumor models. Specifically, the agent prolonged survival and improved tumor regression in in vivo models. The agent also demonstrated a favorable toxicity profile preclinically.

The Business of Biotech caught up with Dr. McArthur at PepGen’s Cambridge headquarters to learn more.

Andrew Hall is the CEO of IMV Inc, which has developed a platform based on a lipid-in-oil technology that encapsulates the therapeutic. When injected subcutaneously, the drug remains in a specific location to reinvigorate the immune system to overcome the tumor surveillance that allows cancer to grow.

Portage Biotech is helmed by CEO Ian Walters and CSO Robert Kramer, and backed by three biotech entrepreneurs — UK investor Jim Mellon, ex-Biohaven board member Declan Doogan and early Medivation backer Greg Bailey — who have whipped up a whole slate of different ventures aimed at drug development.

OTX-2002 is our lead Omega Epigenomic Controller™ (OEC) candidate designed to downregulate the expression of c-Myc (MYC), a key gene involved in cellular growth commonly overexpressed in cancer cells. OECs are programmable mRNA medicines that encode a two-part protein: a DNA binding domain that specifies the target location on the DNA, which we call EpiZips™, and an effector domain that makes precise and durable epigenetic marks to alter gene expression. OECs are translated into proteins by the cell’s ribosomal machinery, then travel to the nucleus to lay epigenetic marks at the programmed specific genomic address.

Matthew explains, “At Immunome, we believe that the antibodies that these B cells are making have an ability to see the different types of tumor antigens, or the specific epitopes on infectious disease. Our platform allows us to see that disease through the lens of the human B cell. We can interrogate what those antibodies are binding to, and we can use that information to help other patients.”