Indaptus Therapeutics, Inc, (Nasdaq: INDP), is a clinical stage biotechnology company dedicated to pioneering innovative cancer and viral infection treatments.  The company has developed a proprietary bacteria-based platform that exploits bacteria’s natural ability to activate both innate and adaptive cellular immune pathways. Leveraging novel insights into the levels and ratios of activating signals needed to safely elicit a broad immune response, Indaptus is creating and advancing a pipeline of proprietary, attenuated and killed non-pathogenic gram-negative bacterial candidates designed to be widely accessible, with broad anti-tumor and anti-viral activity.

 

Historically, tumor regression has been observed in the presence of bacterial infection. It’s also known that bacteria contain immune system danger signals, called pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), that collectively can activate all of the cellular components of our innate and adaptive immune pathways. PAMPs are recognized by receptors, such as Toll-like (TLR), NOD, STING and RIG-I, that are found on and involved in activation of many different innate and adaptive immune cells.

 

Indaptus’ platform is based on the hypothesis that highly efficient anti-tumor immunotherapy will require safe activation of both innate and adaptive cellular immunity in both tumors and immune organs, and that this might be achieved with a multi-targeted package of bacterial PAMPs, in the form of attenuated and killed, intact but non-pathogenic bacteria delivered intravenously. While current therapies are increasingly becoming more and more personalized and costly, Indaptus is advancing an approach designed to be widely accessible, with broad anti-tumor and anti-viral activity not dependent on the targeting of specific tumor or viral antigens.

 

Indaptus is currently advancing it’s lead candidate, Decoy20, through a Phase 1 clinical trial. To date, the company has completed the first part of its trial and presented data from the first cohort at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) in November.  The presentation demonstrated an unprecedented immune response of more than 50 cytokines and chemokines.  The company recently announced that after reviewing the first two cohorts of human data and in consultation with its Independent Safety Review Committee, it has initiated screening for the next part of the trial and will present additional new mechanism of action data at the American Association of Cancer Researchers in April.