Addressing Unmet Medical Need in Kids and Adults
OS Therapies (OST) is a clinical stage therapeutic company focused on the identification, development and commercialization of treatments for Osteosarcoma (OS) and other solid tumors. OS Therapies was launched to meet significant unmet need for new treatments in cancers of the bone in kids and adults. Osteosarcoma is an extremely challenging and often aggressive cancer that has particular treatment challenges due to location, changing genotypes, and high recurrence rates. At OST, we are trying to answer the calls for new treatments, considering there have been no new treatments for OS in over 30 years. OST has expanded the pipeline beyond Osteosarcoma with OST-HER2 into other solid tumors with the same recurrence mechanism of action, including Breast, Esophageal and Lung cancer. With the addition of OST-tADC, considered a next generation Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) platform technology, we will be targeting Ovarian, Lung and Pancreatic cancer.
Our goal is to identify lead candidates in the treatment of Osteosarcoma and other solid tumors for clinical development, regulatory approval and commercialization. Starting with the most common genetic mutation found in Osteosarcoma, OS Therapies has identified a lead candidate in HER-2 Osteosarcoma with a goal of rapid clinical and regulatory analysis and review. This will be immediately followed in parallel with the OST-tADC development.
HER2 is a member of the human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER/EGFR/ERBB) family. Amplification or over-expression of this oncogene has been shown to play an important role in the development and progression of certain aggressive types of bone cancer. In recent years the protein has become an important biomarker and target of therapy for approximately 50% of Osteosarcoma patients.
Cyclin-dependent kinase 4 also known as cell division protein kinase 4 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the CDK4 gene. CDK4 is a member of the cyclin-dependent kinase family. Mutations in this gene as well as in its related proteins including D-type cyclins, p16(INK4a) and Rb were all found to be associated with tumorigenesis bone cancers.
Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) also known as cluster of differentiation 274 (CD274) or B7 homolog 1 (B7-H1) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CD274 gene. Osteosarcoma cancer cells can express high levels of B7-H1, and blockade of B7-H1 reduced the growth of tumors in the presence of immune cells. The Mayo Clinic has concluded that B7-H1 helps tumor cells evade anti-tumor immunity.
The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the E2F family of transcription factors. The E2F family plays a crucial role in the control of cell cycle and action of tumor suppressor proteins and is also a target of the transforming proteins of small DNA tumor viruses.
Osteosarcoma - quite literally "bone cancer" - is an extremely rare cancer that occurs almost equally in about 900 kids and adults in the U.S. each year. OS is know for its extremely aggressive nature and high rates of recurrence. Most osteosarcomas occur in children and young adults. Teens are the most commonly affected age group, but osteosarcoma can occur at any age.
There is significant unmet need for new and more effective treatments for OS. OS Therapies was created to identify potential treatments for OS that needed assistance proving they worked and could be brought to patients.
Please let us know if you would be interested in joining our mission to identify and clinically prove new treatments for OsteoSarcoma. We are located in the Washington Metropolitan area near the NIH, FDA, researchers, capital and a thriving bio-science culture. Join us!
