What Aulos Bioscience Does
Aulos Bioscience is a clinical-stage biotechnology company built around a single, unusually specific idea: that interleukin-2 (IL-2), a cytokine known to fight cancer for decades, failed not because of what it is but because of where it goes.
IL-2 has been an FDA-approved cancer therapy since the early 1990s. In high doses it can shrink tumors - but it also triggers severe toxicities such as vascular leak syndrome and pulmonary edema, and it activates the very regulatory T cells (Tregs) that suppress the immune system's attack on cancer. That combination pushed IL-2 to the margins of oncology.
Aulos's answer is not a new drug molecule but a better guide. Working from an antibody computationally designed by its partner Biolojic Design, the company created imneskibart (AU-007), a human monoclonal antibody that binds IL-2 and blocks it from engaging the trimeric CD25 receptors on regulatory T cells - while still allowing IL-2 to expand effector T cells and natural killer cells. The result, in the company's framing, is a cytokine redirected: activation up, suppression down.
The Problem It Solves
The heart of Aulos's approach is a re-aiming of IL-2. The infographic below contrasts the old behavior of the cytokine with what imneskibart is designed to do.
Native / high-dose IL-2
Binds high-affinity trimeric receptors on regulatory T cells, boosting immune suppression and driving toxicity - vascular leak syndrome, pulmonary edema.
imneskibart (AU-007)
Blocks IL-2 from reaching Treg trimeric receptors while still expanding effector T cells and NK cells - biasing the immune system toward attacking the tumor.
Because the antibody was shaped by machine learning rather than traditional screening, Aulos describes AU-007 as the first AI-designed human monoclonal antibody to enter human clinical trials - a claim that separates it from the many programs where AI helps pick a target but not the molecule's structure.
What the Early Data Show
At the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 40th Annual Meeting in November 2025, Aulos reported durable anti-tumor activity in patients whose melanoma had progressed on prior checkpoint-inhibitor therapy. Three long-term melanoma patients (data cutoff September 29, 2025) showed the deepest reductions.
Source: Aulos Bioscience / Apple Tree Partners SITC 2025 disclosure. Early-stage data from a small cohort; not a controlled efficacy result.
Products, Model & Customers
imneskibart (AU-007)
An AI-designed human monoclonal antibody targeting IL-2, in Phase 2 trials for solid tumors including melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer, often studied in combination with low-dose aldesleukin.
Venture-backed R&D
Aulos is a pre-commercial, clinical-stage biopharma funded by Apple Tree Partners. Value is created by advancing its antibody through trials toward approval, partnering, or acquisition - not current product revenue.
Cancer Patients & Oncologists
The ultimate beneficiaries are patients with solid tumors - initially checkpoint-inhibitor-refractory melanoma and NSCLC. Near-term stakeholders are trial sites, investigators, and its investor.
Computation Meets Oncology
The team pairs Biolojic Design's computational antibody engineering with veteran drug developers who have shepherded breakthrough cancer medicines from lab to clinic.
Standing Out in a Crowded Field
Engineered IL-2 is a busy corner of immuno-oncology, with companies such as Nektar, Synthekine, Medicenna and Roche/Genentech all pursuing "smarter" versions of the cytokine. Aulos's distinction is its antibody-based redirection strategy and its origin in AI-driven design.
Timeline
Aulos Bioscience founded
Spun out of Biolojic Design and co-founded with Apple Tree Partners to develop AI-designed IL-2 antibodies.
$40M Series A
Apple Tree Partners commits $40 million to launch the company around IL-2-binding monoclonal antibodies.
FDA clears AU-007 IND
The FDA clears the Investigational New Drug application for AU-007, enabling U.S. clinical expansion.
First U.S. patient dosed · $20M extension
Aulos doses its first U.S. patient in the Phase 1/2 solid-tumor trial and raises a $20M Series A extension.
Durable Phase 2 responses
New Phase 2 data at SITC show durable activity in CPI-refractory melanoma and NSCLC, including a complete tumor reduction in one long-term patient.
Leadership
Co-founder and former CEO of RayzeBio (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb); previously president and CEO of Five Prime Therapeutics and a Genentech oncology business-development leader.
Founder and CEO of Biolojic Design; a computational biophysicist applying AI and computational biology to proteins, genomes and drug design.
Senior business and finance executive who has driven growth and value across biotech operations for over a decade.
Co-founder Michael Ehlers, M.D., Ph.D. (Apple Tree Partners) serves as executive chair. Leadership also includes CFO and CMO roles.
FAQ
What does Aulos Bioscience do?
It is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing AI-designed antibody therapeutics that harness interleukin-2 (IL-2) to fight solid tumors while avoiding IL-2's historical toxicity.
What is AU-007 / imneskibart?
Aulos's lead drug: a human monoclonal antibody, designed with AI, that redirects IL-2 away from immune-suppressing regulatory T cells and toward immune-activating effector T cells and NK cells. It is in Phase 2 trials.
Who funds and founded Aulos Bioscience?
Aulos was co-founded around 2020 by Apple Tree Partners and Biolojic Design. Apple Tree Partners has provided roughly $60 million across a $40M Series A (2021) and a $20M extension (2023).
Who leads Aulos Bioscience?
Aron Knickerbocker is president and CEO. Co-founder Yanay Ofran (founder of Biolojic Design) is chief scientific officer, with Micah Pearlman as COO and veteran oncology executives on the team.
What makes AU-007 notable?
It is described as the first AI-designed human monoclonal antibody to enter human clinical trials, and it aims to deliver IL-2's cancer-killing benefit without side effects like vascular leak syndrome.
Explore & Follow
Official channels, coverage, and clinical news.