What if one drug alone could not only treat a cancer type, but multiple cancer types more rapidly and with less side effects than the current gold standard? If all things go to plan, that is exactly what Caedo aims to accomplish.

“We are developing antibodies allowing the immune system to recognise cancer cells” Nina Richartz, Senior Scientist at Caedo, explains. She, together with Seham Skah, Research Scientist, and Sittana Mattar, Industrial PhD Candidate, make up the core lab team at Caedo. Caedo is an immuno-oncology company and the first product they are developing is an antibody that recognises and binds the cell surface molecule CD47. CD47 is expressed across all cell types in the body and is essentially signalling “don’t eat me” to the immune system. It is important that cells can signal to the body’s defence mechanisms that they are healthy and should be protected, however, the same mechanism has been found to be used by a range of cancer cell types for immune evasion. By over-expressing CD47, malignant cells can go under the radar of the immune system, which potentiates their development, metastasis, and treatment resistance. At Caedo, they are working on marking the cancer cells for clearance by the immune system. By blocking CD47 on the cancer cell, the “don’t eat me” signal is silenced, and the immune system is activated.

Although Caedo’s antibody, CO-1, is not the only anti-CD47 drug under development, it appears to be unique in its effects. One of the hallmarks of cancer cells is that they have acquired resistance to undergo programmed cell death (PCD). An important and exciting property of CO-1 is that its interaction with CD47 induces PCD of the cancer cells with high efficacy. “We are still in the pre-clinical phase with the effects of treatment still being uncovered.” Nina explains.  “However, we do have good indications that the antibody provides a dual mechanism both targeting cancer cells directly by inducing PCD and by enhancing cancer cell phagocytosis across multiple cancer cell types”.

Getting CO-1 to market could transform the lives of cancer patients. Cancer treatment comes with a range of life quality reducing side-effects. The proposed dual mechanism of the Caedo’s drug could lower the need for co-treatments, consequently decreasing the potential side-effects, and improving the patient’s quality of life during treatment. Moreover, the rapid induction of the response may also result in a shorter treatment window for the patient. Lastly, as over-expression of CD47 is common in several cancer types, multiple patient groups could benefit from the drug. Although still speculative, CO-1 could in short provide a swifter therapy with less side effects across patient groups than current gold standards.

From left: Seham Skah, Nina Richartz, Sittana Matar 

When asked about life in Caedo, the passion for the field is evident across the scientific team. “You are developing a product that you know can help people, and society in general”, says Seham. All three have backgrounds in academia, and they are quick to emphasise the importance of academic research. However, the potential of knowledge translation in applying the insights gained from study and research to develop something tangible with the power to help people is rewarding, they explain. This aspect was always a badge of pride for Sittana from her days in BigPharma. “Being able to see the products you have worked with on the shelf at the pharmacy is rewarding” she explains.

Life in a small company is varied. The next day does not look like the last, and the team faces new challenges on the frequent. It is important to be flexible and solution oriented, they explain, adding on that the dynamics in the company allows them to develop a broad set of skills and test different facets of their field. Watching the team discuss their work, the passion for the product is evident. “When you’re excited about the product, the challenges become interesting problems to solve.” And it all boils down to the passion for improving patients’ lives. “The bottom line is helping people” Nina finishes.

Two years from now the hope is that Caedo goes into the first clinical trials with CO-1. Potentially they have also started to explore some of their other potential targets, “and we hope we’re a big team by then” Nina smiles.

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With the ambition of treating an autoimmune disease, but struggling to find a company matching his ambitions, Jonas Hallén took matters into his own hands. In collaboration with a colleague, he founded Arxx Therapeutics in 2018, which, just four years later, is approaching its first clinical trial. By giving insight into his world in Arxx, Hallén illustrates the entrepreneurial spirit of getting it done.

Hallén illustrates the entrepreneurial spirit of getting it done

After finishing his PhD, Jonas was planning on going back to the hospital as an MD, however, through the act of fortune he ended up as a medical advisor for a large pharmaceutical company. After over a decade in big pharma, Jonas wanted a change. With the aspiration of working for a smaller biotech firm, but failing to find the right match, he, together with his colleague Riswan Hussain, decided to be the makers of their own fortune. Benefiting from over 30 years of research, Arxx is developing therapies for patients with the autoimmune, fibrotic disease systemic sclerosis based on the monoclonal antibody AX-202.

Every meeting we have serves a clear purpose

As the chief medical and development officer of Arxx, Jonas’s primary responsibilities include managing the pre-clinical and clinical pipeline for drug development, as well as maintaining communication with experts in the field. However, the nature of working in a small start-up makes for a flexible interpretation of what the role entails. “One of the benefits of working in a small company is the liberty of autonomy in your day-to-day work” he explains, which results in a much more flexible and varied work week compared to larger companies. When further asked about the differences between working in big pharma and a biotech start-up, he highlights the efficiency and the fruitfulness of the work put in. Less energy is directed towards internal bureaucratic processes, he explains, “every meeting we have serves a clear purpose”. This results in quicker implementation of decisions made, as less time and energy are spent on internal communication and decision-making across departments. In essence, the work you put down makes a visible impact on the future of the company, he states.

Always have a plan A, a plan B, and a plan C

Despite the intrigue of starting on your own, the task of starting a biotech firm can seem daunting. Jonas has several tips for aspiring entrepreneurs. First, do your homework. Follow the field you’re interested in closely and make connections. “Most people you encounter are nice, so don’t be afraid to reach out”. Ideally through information exchange as “having some questions makes it easier to make a connection”. Second, have a plan. The decisions made in the early stages will follow the company for a long time, so it is important to think potential scenarios through. “Always have a plan A, a plan B, and a plan C”. Thirdly, be flexible and solution oriented. With a small team you will face a varied set of completely new challenges, and so being open minded about the nature of your role is important. However, the absolute key, he says, is working with something you are passionate about, and never giving up. Starting up a business is hard, especially in a field which is as highly regulated as life science and biotech. Being passion driven and resilient will, however, allow you to put in the extra hours it takes to solve what can appear unsolvable resulting in a meaningful, dynamic, and exciting career.

He has taken the wheel of his own career

And it is perhaps this ethos which has allowed Jonas and the small team at Arxx to make important steps towards realising his dream of helping people with a disease where no effective treatment is currently available. The coming year will be an exciting one for Arxx, as AX-202 is approaching phase 1 clinical trials. Fuelled by the passion to make a meaningful difference for a largely overlooked patient group, Arxx serves as an inspiring case study in the possibility for trailblazing entrepreneurship to fulfil ambitions left unattended by larger industry. Hallén is this story. He has taken the wheel of his own career and demonstrates the empowering possibilities of doing so.

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About ShareLab

ShareLab offers fully equipped and serviced wet labs for startups and industrial partners, as well as a community of industry experts and biotech entrepreneurs. The laboratory is located at Oslo Science Park amid Norwegian institutions like University of Oslo, Oslo University Hospital, SINTEF, and a range of life science companies. ShareLab is non-profit and invests all funds in cutting edge laboratories and industrial knowhow to help fuel life science.