Saros lands second $2M NCI grant for cancer immunotherapy
What's the deal? Saros TherapeuticsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has received its second National Cancer Institute (NCI)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Phase II award of roughly $2 million to advance a potential cancer immunotherapy. The two-year grant supports development of the company's nanoparticle technology. Saros is a preclinical biotech within Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science's (RFU)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Helix 51Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → incubator in North Chicago, Illinois.
What's the endgame? Saros is building a treatment that helps the immune system recognize and attack cancers that evade the body's defenses. Its technology uses tiny particles to carry therapeutic compounds to immune cells, activating a response against tumors. The approach works through the STING (Stimulator of Interferon Genes) pathway, a part of the body's natural immune defense.
What's the money for? The funding supports studies needed to move the experimental therapy toward an Investigational New Drug (IND) application and potential clinical testing in people. Saros also plans to expand its space within RFU's Innovation and Research Park. The company is working toward its first IND filing as a step to human trials.
Why now? Research involving Saros' SMP nanoparticle system was published in Science earlier this year, the same year the company joined Helix 51.
What's the pitch? "Saros is advancing a next-generation immunotherapy platform designed to help the immune system recognize and attack cancers that do not respond well to today's checkpoint inhibitors," said chief executive officer Matt Britz. He said the formulation is designed to enhance immune activation, protect the drug in circulation, and enable intravenous administration for metastatic disease.
The signal: The grant sits in the upper tier of non-dilutive bioscience awards, a route early-stage companies increasingly use to fund costly preclinical work without giving up equity. For Saros, repeated NCI backing marks a validation step as it pushes a novel delivery system toward the clinic.
Read more: prnewswire.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
