Control leukemia
Immunotherapy made easy
Specific anti-cancer vaccines in vivo.
Modiblast targets the core issue in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the extremely high rate of relapses after successful initial therapy. Our novel approach repurposes approved drugs to induce blast cells in the patient to differentiate into leukemia-specific dendritic cells (DCleu), which in turn trigger both innate and adaptive immune cells in blood/tissue to kill remaining/recurring blasts and generate memory cells.
These immunomodulators induce a patient-specific therapeutic vaccine in vivo. Thus, the individual repertoire of leukemic antigens of this patient can be presented, circumventing the need to identify and select specific target molecules. This approach entails a huge advantage: it doesn’t require complicated/expensive ex vivo procedures or GMP facilities.
Our long-term goal is to provide an easy-to-use self-administered drug that can stabilize remissions or halt progression of the disease. This therapy is also intended for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and may normalize thrombocyte/neutrophil counts.
History
The scientific foundations of Modiblast were laid almost twenty years before the company was established in early 2020. When Helga Schmetzer started to work in immunology and cancer diagnostics, she quickly became aware of the fundamental role of dendritic cells in fighting off leukemic cells (so-called blasts).
Using immunological, molecular, and chromosomal methods to detect and characterize (residual) disease in patients with leukemia, she realized that …
CONTROL LEUKEMIA
We use approved drugs to induce personalized anti-leukemia “vaccines” in vivo.