About
Our vision at Adanate is to improve patient outcomes by translating ideas into products in oncology and immunology. Building on an exciting lead development program, strong scientific pedigree, experienced leadership, and support from blue-chip venture investors, we recently raised a $30M series A financing, led by Westlake Village BioPartners and with participation from Avalon Ventures, to advance our lead immuno-oncology program into the clinic in 2022 and build an R&D portfolio around it.
In recent years, immunotherapy in the form of immune checkpoint inhibition has revolutionized the treatment of cancer, producing durable responses in patients with advanced and treatment-resistant tumors. Still, only a small subset of patients achieve such outcomes, and there is a substantial unmet
need for improvements that enhance the quality of response and extend the benefits of immunotherapy to more patients. Building on the success of currently available immunotherapies that target T-cells, recent efforts have focused on finding ways to stimulate the innate immune system as an alternative or supplement to the adaptive immune stimulation produced by first-generation T-cell checkpoint inhibitors.
Our lead program (ADA-011) is a monoclonal antibody targeting a novel family of immune checkpoint receptors called leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptors B (LILRB). An important component of maternal fetal tolerance, LILRB serve as receptors for major histocompatibility complex class 1 (MHC1) ligands, such as human leukocyte antigen G (HLAG), responsible for modulating interactions between antigen-presenting and immune cells that drive both adaptive and innate immune responses. Recognizing cancer co-opts many aspects of developmental biology, in the context of accumulating evidence that elevated HLAG expression is associated with poor outcomes across a range of tumor types, we and others have demonstrated that modulation of LILRB-MHC1 interactions can reduce immunosuppression and restore immune surveillance and developed strong preclinical and preliminary clinical evidence of antitumor activity. ADA-011 is differentiated from other programs in this field by virtue of a unique selectivity profile that supports a strong biological rationale for efficacy as monotherapy and in combination with other immune checkpoint inhibitors. We are preparing to initiate clinical development of ADA-011 in 2022.
In parallel with the advancement of ADA-011 into the clinic, we intend to leverage the capabilities of the team we are building to develop a portfolio of R&D programs in oncology and immunology via a combination of internal research and external business development.
Our team is led by CEO Chris Griffith and CBO Virginia Finnerty-Brooks, who successfully executed a similar business plan in the immunology and dermatology field at Dermira, which was acquired by Eli Lilly for >$1B in 2020; CSO Allen Ebens, PhD, who brings an extensive track record in drug discovery and development from companies including Exelixis, Genentech, Juno and NGM; director Neil Gibson, PhD, who, as CSO of biologics at Avalon Ventures’ COI Pharmaceuticals, founded Adanate and developed the company’s foundational technology and who previously served as CSO and therapeutic area head of Pfizer Oncology with responsibility for target selection through clinical proof-of-concept; and chairman Beth Seidenberg, MD, who, during her time as managing director of Westlake Village BioPartners and general partner of Kleiner Perkins, has invested in and incubated more than 20 biotech ventures and who previously served as CMO and head of global development at Amgen.
Adanate is the latest company to emerge from COI Pharmaceuticals, an Avalon Ventures-funded R&D environment that rewards innovation, which has produced a number of innovative biopharmaceutical companies, including notable recent successes in the immuno-oncology field, such as Janux
Therapeutics (Nasdaq: JANX), a preclinical tumor-activated immunomodulator company that was valued at $1B in a 2021 IPO, and Synthorx, an early entrant into the interleukin 2 derivative field that was acquired by Sanofi for $2.5B in 2020.
For more information while our site is under construction, please contact us via info@Adanate.com.
