checkpoint-inhibitors
(5)
Glycyx
Glycyx is a San Francisco biopharmaceutical company developing axelopran, an orally administered peripheral mu-opioid receptor antagonist, to counter opioid-induced immunodeficiency in cancer patients. Roughly 45% of immunotherapy patients take opioids for pain, and studies link that use to sharply worse outcomes on checkpoint inhibitors. Axelopran blocks opioid signaling on immune cells - without touching pain relief - to restore T-cell infiltration into tumors and make 'cold' tumors respond to immunotherapy. The company is Phase 2b-ready with an active IND and has drawn NIH SBIR grant support.
NeoPhore Ltd
NeoPhore is a UK small-molecule immuno-oncology company developing first-in-class inhibitors of the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) pathway. By temporarily switching off MMR, its drugs are designed to make tumours generate fresh neoantigens, become visible to the immune system, and respond to checkpoint immunotherapy - extending the benefit of drugs like Keytruda to patients whose cancers are otherwise immune-cold. A 2017 spin-out of Cambridge's PhoreMost, NeoPhore has raised roughly $47M and counts Bristol Myers Squibb and Memorial Sloan Kettering among its backers and collaborators.
Seneca Therapeutics, Inc.
Seneca Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted oncolytic immunotherapeutics built on SVV-001, a non-pathogenic Seneca Valley Virus that selectively replicates in solid-tumor cells expressing the TEM8/ANTXR1 receptor. Founded by oncolytic-virus pioneer Dr. Paul Hallenbeck, the company pairs SVV-001 with immune modulators and checkpoint inhibitors to spark systemic anti-tumor immunity, and is advancing a Phase I/II trial in high-grade neuroendocrine neoplasms while building a pipeline of armed and neo-antigen viral constructs.
CatalYm GmbH
CatalYm is a German clinical-stage biotech developing visugromab, a GDF-15 neutralizing monoclonal antibody designed to reverse immunotherapy resistance in solid tumors and address cancer cachexia.
Scott Clarke
Scott Clarke is the CEO of CatalYm GmbH, a Munich-based biotech company developing visugromab, a monoclonal antibody targeting GDF-15 to reverse cancer immunotherapy resistance. With over 20 years in biopharmaceuticals - spanning Roche's global oncology partnering, BioMarin, Tizona Therapeutics, and Ambagon Therapeutics - Clarke joined CatalYm in January 2025 to lead the company's $319M-funded push through Phase 2b clinical trials, building on visugromab's striking Phase 1/2a results published in Nature showing durable responses lasting 28-32+ months in multiple solid tumor types.