Immunomodulation without immunosuppression
Resetting the immune system to restore healthy responses
Artax Biopharma is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the development of safe and effective treatments for autoimmune diseases. Rather than suppressing or blocking the immune response, our approach focuses on modulating activation at the T cell receptor. This prevents self-activation without causing immune suppression. Our pipeline of first-in-class Nck modulator candidates is fully proprietary, with a convincing preclinical and clinical data package to date, and a first patient readout expected in 2024.
Latest news and publications
-
- Press Releases
Artax Biopharma to present first-in-class Nck modulator mechanism of action and Phase 1 data at the ACR Annual Meeting
Cambridge, MA, October 1, 2024 – Artax Biopharma, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on… -
- Press Releases
Artax Biopharma completes patient recruitment in Phase 2a trial with first-in-class Nck modulator AX-158
AX-158 has broad potential to treat many autoimmune diseases without causing immunosuppression. Psoriasis biomarker panel and PASI scores… -
- Press Releases
Artax Biopharma Raises $8 Million Ahead of Phase 2a Data Expected in Q4-2024
Strong support from existing shareholders which includes Lilly, Advent Life Sciences, Columbus Ventures, Sound Bioventures and Belinda Termeer Cambridge,…
Nck modulators: a new class of autoimmune disease treatment
A healthy immune system eliminates harmful foreign pathogens, while being tolerant of self-tissues and organs. When the immune system malfunctions and the T cell receptor (TCR) and recognition become dysregulated, T cells behave abnormally, attacking a patient’s own tissues and organs, resulting in autoimmune and other T cell mediated diseases. Artax Biopharma is developing first-in-class, oral small molecules that inhibit Nck binding to the TCR. Our Nck modulator candidates aim to assist the immune system in maintaining healthy control, eliminating a direct cause of T cell mediated diseases, while preserving patients’ ability to fight foreign pathogens properly. We believe our innovative approach to immunomodulation holds great potential.
Building a valuable pipeline in key autoimmune indications
Targeted modulation of the T cell receptor (TCR) activation forms the core of everything we do at Artax Biopharma. We develop candidates that prevent Nck recruitment upon TCR activation, thereby preventing inappropriate activation by self-antigens, resulting in a rebalancing of the immune response without causing immunosuppression. Our lead candidate, AX-158, is currently being evaluated in psoriasis patients and represents the pioneering drug in a novel class, Nck modulators, designed to block Nck recruitment to the T cell receptor. Data obtained to date in our pre-clinical and Phase 1 studies suggests that AX-158 has a promising tolerability profile with the activity potential to address a wide range of autoimmune diseases. We anticipate topline data from a Phase 2a psoriasis trial with AX-158 in Q4 2024, and we plan to initiate a Phase 2 trial with AX-158 in atopic dermatitis patients later this year.
Led by a highly experienced management team
We brought together deeply experienced leaders in the field of immunomodulation to realize the full potential of our first-in-class pipeline.