SignaBlok's novel peptide inhibitor of TREM-1 suppresses cancer progression

Sep 18 2013

Novel First-in-Class Peptide Inhibitor of TREM-1 Modulates the Inflammatory Response and Shows Promise for Treatment of Cancer and Sepsis

SignaBlok, Inc., a Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical company, today announced the successful in vivo proof of concept data that demonstrate that the company's novel mechanism-based, first-in-class peptide inhibitor of TREM-1 effectively suppresses cancer progression in mouse models of lung cancer and dramatically improves survival in septic mice. 

SignaBlok’s innovative approach to cancer and sepsis targets a specific receptor called TREM-1 that is expressed on inflammatory cells, macrophages, and serves as an inflammation amplifier. This receptor is critically involved in cancer, sepsis and other inflammation-related diseases. The approach includes the use of short synthetic peptides that employ novel, ligand-independent mechanisms of TREM-1 inhibition and are designed using a new model of cell signaling, known as the SCHOOL model. 

The data were first unveiled at the 2013 American Association of Immunologists Annual Meeting in Honolulu, HI, in talk and poster entitled "A novel ligand-independent peptide inhibitor of TREM-1 modulates the inflammatory response and improves survival in septic mice (P4210)" and at the 2013 Gordon Research Conference on Cancer Nanotechnology in West Dover, VT, in poster entitled "Nature-inspired nanotheranostics for targeted cancer imaging and therapy". 

“These results are a crucial animal proof of concept not only for our novel approach to cancer and sepsis that uses a first-in-class, non-toxic TREM-1 inhibitory peptide but also for our strategy of targeted delivery of this peptide to TREM-1-expressing macrophages in vivo using company's proprietary self-assembling nanoparticles”, stated Alexander Sigalov, Ph.D., President, Inventor and Founder of SignaBlok. "SignaBlok has successfully leveraged its cutting-edge SCHOOL platform and macrophage-targeted delivery nanotechnology to create a portfolio of highly potent TREM-1 inhibitory peptide formulations." 

Dr. Sigalov continued: "There is clear unmet clinical need for new therapies to treat lung cancer and sepsis, and we are very encouraged by the potential of a TREM-1 SCHOOL approach for the treatment of these life-threatening diseases. We believe that our key pre-clinical data set the stage for the development of a potential "magic bullet" therapy not only for sepsis and lung cancer but also for other types of cancers such as pancreatic and colon cancers as well as for a variety of seemingly unrelated inflammation-associated disorders, including radiation sickness, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis."