Defining the field of immuno-oncology and the potential of immunotherapy for cancer patients
Immunotherapy for cancer, also known as immuno-oncology, has emerged as a game-changing approach in the field of cancer treatment. Unlike traditional cancer therapies that directly target cancer cells, immunotherapy leverages the power of the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells more effectively. It offers remarkable advancements in cancer care, with notable modalities such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T cell therapy, and cancer vaccines.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors release the brakes on the immune system, reinvigorating its ability to identify and eliminate cancer cells. CAR-T cell therapy involves modifying a patient's T cells to express receptors that specifically target cancer cells. Cancer vaccines educate the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells by introducing cancer-specific antigens. These immunotherapies have demonstrated exceptional success, leading to durable responses and even complete remissions in some cases.
Immunotherapy has transformed the landscape of cancer treatment, offering new hope and improved outcomes for patients. Ongoing research aims to enhance response rates and broaden the applications of immuno-oncology. As scientists continue to explore innovative strategies and combination therapies, the future of cancer treatment looks promising, with immunotherapy playing a pivotal role in the fight against cancer.
The current state of the immuno-oncology market
The immuno-oncology market has grown at a compound rate of 10%, from $57 billion to $69 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach around $98 billion by 2025.
This is a highly competitive market, so companies in this sector have to innovate rapidly by creating novel drugs and therapies.
These are the top 30 immuno-oncology companies in the US
CEO & Co-Founder - William Haney
Located in Massachusetts, Dragon Therapeutics is developing cancer treatments that promote immune responses against cancer are being developed. The company's platform is developing revolutionary first-in-class therapies targeted at natural killer cells and other innate immune system cells.
CEO - Kenneth Galbraith
Located in British Columbia, Zymeworks is dedicated to the development, commercialization, and discovery of next-generation multifunctional biotherapeutics. Zanidatamab, the company's flagship clinical candidate, is a novel Azymetric HER2-targeted bispecific antibody that is now being tested in several Phase 1, Phase 2, and pivotal clinical trials around the world as a targeted therapeutic option for patients with HER2-positive solid tumors.
CEO - Brian Stuglik
Located in Massachusetts, Verastem Oncology is developing novel treatments for cancer patients. COPIKTRA (duvelisib), the company's first commercial product, is for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma after two or more prior therapies, as well as relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma after two or more prior systemic therapies.
CEO & President & Co-Founder - Andrew Allen
Located in California, Gritstone bio is developing tailored cancer immunotherapies to combat a variety of cancers and infectious disorders.
CEO & President - Stephen Yoder
Located in Massachusetts, Pieris Pharmaceuticals is focused on discovering and developing biotherapeutics in the Anticalin class.
Anticalin proteins are modified forms of lipocalins, which are human proteins that bind, store, and transport a wide range of chemicals naturally.
CMO - Francois Lebel
Located in Texas, Alaunos Therapeutics Alaunos is focused on adoptive TCR-T cell therapy for the treatment of solid malignancies. It attacks cancer at its source by developing cell treatments that target Neoantigens (neoAg), which are produced as a result of genomic alterations.
CTO - Raymond Stapleton, Jr.
Located in Massachusetts, Genocea focuses on creating innovative vaccines and immunotherapies to treat diseases with high unmet medical needs. Using it's ATLAS™ technology can profile each patient's T cell responses to possible tumor targets, or antigens, in great detail. ATLAS targets antigens that trigger anti-tumor T cell responses as well as inhibitory antigens, known as Inhibigens™, that induce pro-tumor immune responses.
CEO - Richard Adcock
Located in California, ImmunityBio is developing next-generation treatments that stimulate immunogenic pathways in cancer and infectious disease patients. To develop long-term immunological memory, the company's immunotherapy platform engages both the innate (natural killer cell and macrophage) and adaptive (T cell) immune systems.
CEO & President - Joel Lewis
Located in Georgia, Galectin Therapeutics focuses on drug development to find novel treatments for fibrotic illness, cancer, and a few other ailments.
CEO - Michael A. Metzger
Located in Massachusetts, Syndax is working on a pipeline of combination medicines for a variety of cancers. Entinostat, which has direct effects on both cancer cells and immune regulatory cells, and SNDX-6352, an anti-CSF-1R monoclonal antibody, are two of the company's product prospects.
CEO & President - David Chang
Located in California, Allogene Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in developing allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cell (AlloCAR T™) therapies for cancer treatment. The company's pipeline includes several allogeneic CAR T therapies and UCART19 which is intended for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
CEO - Craig Gibbs
Located in California, Asher Biotherapeutics develops targeted immunotherapies to treat cancer and other diseases. Their cis-targeting platform enables the activation of immune cell types to take on cancer cells with minimum side effects.
CEO - Pablo Cagnoni
Located in Massachusetts, Rubius Therapeutics is a pioneer in developing Red Cell Therapeutics™ (RCTs) using their proprietary RED PLATFORM™. The RCTs are potent, selective, and ready-to-use cellular therapies that can be used to treat autoimmune diseases and cancer.
CEO - Zhen Su
Located in Massachusetts, Marengo Therapeutics is a pioneer in developing therapies that boost the body's immune system to fight cancer. Using their proprietary therapeutic platform, the company boosts the patient's T cells to amplify their anti-tumor activity while promoting long-lasting immunity.
CEO & President - Alvin Shih
Located in Massachusetts, Catamaran Bio develops off-the-shelf, allogeneic immune cell therapies that are safe and effective using their proprietary TAILWIND™ platform to treat cancer and immune disorders.
CEO - Paul Wotton
Located in Massachusetts, Obsidian Therapeutics is developing next-generation controlled cell and gene therapies are being developed to bring adoptive immunotherapy to every cancer patient.
CEO & Founder - Gary D. Glick
Located in Massachusetts, Odyssey Therapeutics aims to create next-generation precision medicine for patients with cancer and inflammatory diseases. The Odyssey team can quickly identify relevant targets and optimize therapeutic assets for clinical development using their in-house intellectual capital.
CEO & President - Xiaodong Yang
Located in California, Apexigen is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that uses its proprietary antibody-drug discovery platform to develop drugs that enhance tumor-specific immunity.
CEO & President - Fred Aslan
Located in California, Artiva develops off-the-shelf therapies like allogeneic NK cell therapies, including CAR-NK cell therapies designed to treat solid tumors or hematologic malignancies. Its mission is to deliver safe and easily accessible cancer therapies to patients.
CEO & President - Scott Wolchko
Located in California, Fate Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders. Their therapy pipeline includes natural killer (NK) cell and T-cell cancer immunotherapies, which are designed to work in conjunction with current cancer therapies such as immune checkpoint inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies.
CEO & President - Jaume Pons
Located in California, ALX Oncology is developing a pipeline of pharmaceutical candidates based on expertise in protein engineering and oncology, led by the CD47 blocker evorpacept, which is currently in phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. To avoid detection by the immune system, cancer cells use CD47, a cell surface protein, as a don't eat me signal.
CEO - John Chant
Located in California, Filtricine has developed targeted nutrient deprivation (TND) therapy, which focuses on taking away nutrients critical for the growth of cancer cells. This helps to exploit metabolic dependencies to stop cancer from spreading.
CSO - Leslie Sharp
Located in Arizona, OncoMyx Therapeutics develops immunotherapy for cancer research and treatments. Its proprietary myxoma platform targets hematologic and solid tumors with a unique oncolytic virus called myxoma and a novel patented systemic delivery approach.
CEO & Co-Founder - Ken Drazan
Located in California, ArsenalBio is a programmable cell therapy company that uses CRISPR-enabled genome editing to engineer living medicines that attack cancer and improve patient lives.
CEO & President - Lara S. Sullivan
Located in Massachusetts, Pyxis Oncology develops biologics that overcome suppression and target tumor cells. They believe that antibody-drug candidates (ADCs) and immunotherapies for cancer hold the potential to improve patient lives and target difficult-to-treat cancers.
CEO & President - Laurence Blumberg
Located in California, Arch Oncology is a clinical-stage company that develops antibody therapies to treat hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. Their lead candidate AO-176 is used to treat patients with solid tumors and is currently going through Phase 1/2 clinical trials. AO-176 can directly kill tumor cells and induce DAMPs (Damage Associated Molecular Patterns), resulting in Immunogenic Cell Death.
CSO - Miguel Garcia-Guzman
Located in California, Rakuten Medical is developing cell-targeting investigational therapies on its Illuminox™ technology platform. These therapies are known to demonstrate selective cell killing and tumor necrosis in preclinical studies.
CEO & President - Paul Lammers
Located in Texas, Triumvira Immunologics is developing a novel and proprietary T cell Antigen Coupler (TAC) technology that is thought to be safer and more effective than some of the current cancer treatments like antigen receptor (CAR) and engineered T cell receptor (TCR) therapies.
CEO & President - Evans Jay
Located in Montana, Inimmune is at the forefront of advancing the field of immunotherapy for cancer and autoimmunity. With a focus on developing next-generation therapies, Inimmune is dedicated to harnessing the power of the immune system to combat these diseases. By leveraging innovative approaches and cutting-edge research, Inimmune aims to revolutionize treatment options and improve outcomes for patients battling cancer and autoimmune disorders.
CEO - Terry Rosen
Located in California, Arcus Biosciences is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for cancer using the ATP-adenosine pathway, a crucial pathway associated with immunosuppression in a tumor microenvironment. The company's product pipeline includes Etrumadenant, AB680, and Domvanalimab.
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