Sophia Bioscience
Industry: Novel cancer therapeutics
Sophia Bioscience develops new pharmaceutical treatments for early and metastatic cancers. The company aims to increase the effectiveness of established drugs while lowering their required dosage and minimizing side effects.
Sophia Bioscience also works to improve the drug development process, shortening the time-to-develop and significantly lowering associated costs. The company is currently focused on treating prostate cancer.
The first drug candidate Sophia has put forward uses an independent anti-tumor chemotype, HDACi, and exploits prostate tumor androgen receptors (AR) for a more selective delivery than existing drugs. By exploiting these receptors, the drug resolves the issue of insufficient accumulation in the tumor and localizes the effects of the HDACi.
Upon completing phase 2 clinical studies, Sophia Bioscience will 1) synthesize lead compounds for in vivomodel validation and 2) validate the AR-dependent Enza-resistant VCaP mouse xenograft model in preparation for the next phase of development.
Prostate cancer is the most diagnosed cancer among men in highly-developed countries. Approximately 16% of diagnoses occur after the tumor has metastasized, after which median survival is only 18 to 24 months. The market for drugs attempting to treat these cancers has grown at a CAGR of 18%, surpassing $18 billion globally in 2017.
