Development portfolio
Developing small molecules drug programmes focusing on oncology, diseases that fall under the term cancer
We work with a broad portfolio and rapidly develop several parallel programmes in the preclinical phase until we have a potential drug candidate ready to be licensed to the pharmaceutical market. Our programmes are mainly in three areas of biology, all of which are important for the growth and survival of cancer cells.
These three focus areas overlap, providing valuable synergies between the programmes. This makes us efficient and helps to build a unique expertise that both facilitates the selection of target proteins and makes Sprint Bioscience an attractive licence partner.
Tumor metabolism
Cancer cells, due to their rapid growth, depend on a constant supply of energy and building blocks in a way that differs from the needs of healthy cells. This creates a vulnerability in cancer cells that is exploited in the programmes Sprint Bioscience is developing in this area. By blocking the metabolic pathways specific to the tumor, they can be starved and tumor growth blocked.
The tumor microenvironment
A tumor is usually a mixture of cancer cells and other cell types normally found in the body. These normal cells have often been reprogrammed by the cancer cells to contribute to the growth of the tumor. One of the characteristics of a tumor is poor blood supply, which creates an environment that is very different from the rest of the body. This environment is called the tumor microenvironment. The different cell types in the tumor need to adapt to this environment, and by developing drugs that block this adaptation, the growth of the tumor can be stopped.
Immuno-oncology
The field of immuno-oncology is about developing treatments that help the body's own immune system fight cancer. For a tumor to form in the body, cancer cells need to find ways to evade the immune system. The programmes we are developing in this area focus on blocking these mechanisms so that the tumor can be identified and fought by the immune system.
