Thetis Pharmaceuticals LLC (“Thetis”), a privately-held biopharmaceutical company developing Resolvin-based therapies, announced today the launch of a new program in cancer and the formation of a scientific advisory board (SAB) with several prominent cancer researchers and industry veterans.
RIDGEFIELD, CT – (July 8, 2021) – Thetis Pharmaceuticals LLC (“Thetis”), a privately-held biopharmaceutical company developing Resolvin-based therapies, announced today the launch of a new program in cancer and the formation of a scientific advisory board (SAB) with several prominent cancer researchers and industry veterans.
The company’s lead program, TP-317, is a first-in-class Resolvin E1 therapy for treatment of solid tumor cancers. The basic research supporting the program, first published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, comes from the laboratory of Dr. Dipak Panigrahy, Assistant Professor of Pathology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, and a member of the Thetis SAB.
Dr. Panigrahy commented, “Our research demonstrates that tumor debris and inflammation are significant causes of cancer progression, resistance and metastasis. Resolvins address these problems by activating macrophage clearance of debris, resolving protumor inflammation, and increasing T-cell infiltration into the tumor microenvironment.”
“TP-317’s preclinical efficacy data show promise and its macrophage-targeted mechanism of action is unique,” said Dr. Manuel Hidalgo, Chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Associate Director for Clinical Services at the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine and a paid member of Thetis’ SAB. “TP-317 has demonstrated single agent and combination efficacy with chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and checkpoint-inhibitors across multiple tumor types. Based on these data and its anticipated safety as a naturally-occurring small molecule, TP-317 has therapeutic potential for treatment of solid tumor cancers in front-line and in the maintenance setting.”
Thetis CEO Gary Mathias commented, “Based on unmet medical need and the mechanism of action of TP-317, we are targeting pancreatic, metastatic colorectal, small cell lung and ovarian cancer for clinical investigation. These are major cancers characterized by substantial tumor debris and inflammation, where existing therapies have limited efficacy.”
The other members of the Thetis SAB include:
- Wayne Klohs, Ph.D. is an R&D executive and scientist with 35+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Klohs retired from Astellas Pharma Inc. as Senior Vice President and Global Therapeutic Head for Oncology where he successfully built the Astellas cancer franchise de novo and filed NDAs for Xtandi and Tarceva. Prior to that, he held senior research roles at Takeda, Pfizer, and Parke-Davis.
- Patricia LoRusso, D.O. has been a practicing academic medical oncologist performing clinical and translational research in early phase clinical trials for over 30 years. After spending the first 25 years of her career Karmanos Cancer Institute (Wayne State University), Dr. LoRusso was appointed Professor of Medicine at Yale University and Associate Director of the Cancer Center for Experimental Therapeutics at the Yale Cancer Center.
- Eileen O’Reilly, M.D. holds the Winthrop Rockefeller Endowed Chair in Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). She serves as the Section Head for Hepatopancreaticobiliary/ Neuroendocrine Cancers, Gastrointestinal Oncology Service, Co-Director for Medical Initiatives at the David M. Rubenstein Center for Pancreatic Cancer. Dr. O’Reilly is an Attending Physician and Member of MSKCC and Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.
- David Parkinson, M.D. is an industry veteran with 30+ years of experience in cancer drug development as a pharmaceutical executive and clinical researcher. Currently the President and CEO of ESSA Pharma, Dr. Parkinson was previously a Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates, CEO of Nodality Inc., and a senior executive at Biogen, Amgen, and Novartis. Prior to that, Dr. Parkinson served as Chief of the Investigational Drug Branch at the National Cancer Institute.
About Thetis Pharmaceuticals
Thetis is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the lives of patients suffering from cancer and autoimmune diseases. Thetis’ proprietary HEALER™ technology platform enables the pharmaceutical development of Resolvins, a class of endogenous lipid mediators that regulate immune homeostasis by resolving inflammation and clearing cell debris. Thetis’ HEALER™ technology overcomes the stability, manufacturing, and formulation hurdles that have limited the development of Resolvins as pharmaceutical agents, unlocking their robust pharmacology to be developed as first-in-class immunoresolvent drugs.
Disclaimer
TP-317 is an investigational drug product that has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
For more information, please visit Thetis Pharmaceuticals’ website (http://thetispharma.com) and follow Thetis on Twitter (@thetispharma).
Contact Information
Aaron Mathias
Senior Director of Business Development
