DISCOVER
UltraHuman8
- PD1 & VEGF pathway synergies have been clinically validated
- In addition to tumor vasculature conditioning, VEGF is emerging as a master immune checkpoint regulator
- However, VEGF pathway inhibition comes with dose-limiting tox, limiting opportunities for add-on therapies
- Combination therapies lead to significant increases in toxicities and treatment delivery times, adding an unsustainable burden to already strained chemotherapy daycare units.
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UH8 is a single agent, standard IgG, that blocks both pathways synergistically with an enhanced potency/tox profile.
THE EVOLUTION OF
Medical Oncology
While immune checkpoint inhibitors have transformed medical oncology, therapeutic success is still limited to subsets of patients. For this reason, immune-oncology approaches in the clinic are evolving from monotherapies to combinations, attempting to improve potency through dual checkpoint inhibition or diverse pathway targeting.
VEGF, via VEGFR2, establishes an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment by recruiting suppressor cells, inhibiting T-cell proliferation & cytokine production, and inducing multiple checkpoint inhibitors (PD1, LAG3, TIM3, CTLA4 & TIGIT).
focusing on improved efficacy for
Tumor Targeting
There is a strong rationale for combining PD1/VEGF pathway inhibitors. Aside from a key role in angiogenesis, VEGF is emerging as a master checkpoint regulator in the tumor microenvironment.
Combination therapies represent a rapidly growing
Clinical Trial Space
Combinations of PD1/VEGF pathway inhibitors represented the fastest growing clinical trial space in 2020. A number of these combinations have already been approved for clinical use and many more are following in late-stage clinical trials.
But at what cost?
Combinations often result in efficacy-limiting toxicities & debilitating dosing regimens for patients. The combination of Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in melanoma is associated with high grade 3-4 toxicity and a very high hospital admission rate. Combinations of Atezolizumab and Bevacizumab together with Carboplatin in NSCLC leads to very long treatment times, significantly impacting patient quality of life, but also adding an unsustainable burden on already strained chemotherapy daycare units.
Single agent UH8 has the potential to overcome these unmet needs with increased potency, a minimal adverse event burden and a short infusion time.
our highly-differentiated
Approach
UH8 is highly-differentiated from combination therapies with a unique potency v safety profile.
Unique modality
- 2 paratopes in 1 standard IgG1
- Exemplary mAb-like properties
- No complex manufacturing
- 2 pathways, single agent dosing paves way for add-on therapies
TME-biased
- High affinity for PD1 drives biodistribution
- VEGFR2 potency is avidity-driven
- Low systemic engagement avoids typical VEGF-associated adverse events
Novel mechanism of action
- Allosteric inhibitor of VEGFR2
- Unique 2-in-1 drives synergistic engagement of immune cells
the ultrahuman
Management Team
UltraHuman8 have applied their extensive antibody engineering experience to bring together the dual functionalities of immune checkpoint and angiogenesis inhibition in a single agent with increased potency and improved systemic safety.
Jonny Finlay
CEO & Co-Founder
Jamie Coleman
COO & Co-Founder
Orla Cunningham
CSO
Prior to joining Ultrahuman 8, Orla was Senior Director of Pfizer’s bio therapeutic optimisation group leading multi-disciplinary teams across diverse research units internally, as well as driving academic collaborations with universities across Ireland & the UK. She has supported discovery programs from conception through to late stage development, with a number of these molecules currently progressing through clinical trial.
the ultrahuman
Scientific Advisory Board
Dr Greg Carven
Phd
Dr Gregory J. Carven is currently Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Scholar Rock Inc, where he has served in leadership roles since 2014. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the discovery and development of antibody therapeutics and was awarded “Inventor of the Year” in 2016 for his role in the in the development of Keytruda®. Prior to joining Scholar Rock, Gregory led hybridoma based antibody discovery efforts at Pfizer, Merck and Phylogix Inc. Gregory received his PhD in Biological Chemistry from MIT.
Dr Martin Forster
MD PhD
Dr Forster is an Associate Professor at UCL and Consultant Medical Oncologist at UCH NHS Foundation Trust. He specialises in Thoracic and Head and Neck Cancers and has a particular interest in drug development. Dr Forster has been Principal or Chief Investigator of > 70 clinical trials since 2009. He completed his PhD in biomarker development at the Institute of Cancer Research and has many ongoing translational research collaborations. Dr Forster has published widely on cancer biology, translational oncology & clinical studies. He chairs the NIHR Head & Neck Research Group, is UCH Lead for Cancer Research and Joint Lead for the Clinical Trials Theme of the CRUK Lung Cancer CoE.
Dr Stéphane Champiat
MD PhD
the ultrahuman
Board
Kevin Johnson
Chairman
Francesco De Rubertis
Investor director
Interested?
Get in Touch
To find out more about UltraHuman8 and our technology, please contact a member of our team using the form or details below and we will be in touch as soon as possible.
UH8 is a single agent that blocks both pathways synergistically, resulting in an improved potency/tox profile; beating PD1 resistance mechanisms & driving unique biology.