PTM Therapeutics: Pioneering PTM-Targeted Therapies for GI and Oncology Diseases
Founded in 2019, PTM Therapeutics is a San Francisco-based, pre-clinical stage startup that strives to “develop therapeutics for the betterment of human health span and well-being.” They achieve this by harnessing antibody technology against post-translational modification (PTM) targets for gastrointestinal (GI) and oncology diseases. The company collaborates with the University of Michigan and Emory University to exclusively license these therapies to target conditions like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
The company’s research revolves around the theory that PTMs are implicated in disease states. PTMs are chemical alterations made to proteins after they are synthesized in cells. These changes impact a protein’s structure, stability, and activity, ultimately affecting cellular processes like signaling or gene expression. PTMs are crucial for cellular functionality, allowing proteins to adopt diverse roles beyond their basic genetic instructions and contributing to the complexity and adaptability of biological systems. Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly investigating drugs that block or mimic enzymes responsible for PTMs. As PTM Therapeutic’s website succinctly states: “The scale and scope of the myriads of PTMs are still poorly understood and not fully characterized. However, PTMs has been found to distinguish healthy cells/tissue from diseased cells/tissue and to be important in various biological dysfunctions.”
Currently, the company has two drugs in the pipeline in the GI and oncology spaces. Their ‘PTM-001’ asset is indicated for ulcerative colitis and is undergoing preclinical, in vivo validation studies. Their second asset, ‘PTM-001-ADC, is indicated for colon cancer solid tumors and is also in the preclinical stage being tested in in vitro models. Although the company’s portfolio is early on in the drug development timeline, they have presented their study findings at the Crohn’s & Colitis Congress in 2021. The poster, titled ‘Validation of hPTM-001, a humanized candidate therapeutic antibody for promoting mucosal wound healing in IBD’, is essentially a proof-of-concept study. It explains how PTM-001 can speed up wound healing in intestinal epithelial monolayers by triggering a specific signaling cascade. The results maintain that this signaling cascade, called FAK, is important for colon function. In the long term, PTM-001 would theoretically help wound repair in the gut and reconstitute it back to normal function in IBD patients. PTM-001’s main differentiator is that, instead of suppressing the immune system, it aims to directly stimulate intestinal mucosal wound healing through targeting PTMs. The drug selectively binds to glycans on inflamed mucosal epithelium, which translates to a more favorable prognosis with reduced hospitalization rates, clinical remission, and resection-free survival.
PTM Therapeutics was founded by Dr. Jennifer Cheng, Ph.D., J.D. who currently serves as CEO. Cheng has comprehensive experience in the life sciences space, having spent over 15 years at various biotech and pharmaceutical companies. She began her career at Genentech where she served as a research assistant for three years. Cheng then went on to serve in various legal roles including General Counsel for Adverum Biotechnologies, a patent attorney for Allergan, and Manager of Intellectual Property at TerraVia Holdings. Cheng received a B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley. She has also earned a Ph.D. in tumor cell biology and molecular medicine from Northwestern University and a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law.
Since its inception, PTM Therapeutics has made waves by garnering prestigious innovation awards, such as the 2020 AbbVie Golden Ticket. The Golden Ticket is an annual award given to early-stage science/technology companies dedicated to inventing transformational therapies that align with AbbVie’s therapeutic areas. The winner is offered lab space and core facilities onsite and provided opportunities for networking with leaders in the science and business fields. Also, in October of last year, Dr. Jennifer Cheng presented at the Springboard Life Sciences Innovation Showcase as part of the program’s 2023 cohort. Cheng’s company, PTM Therapeutics, was selected as a member of the annual innovation program, which strives to uplift women-led companies through funding and networking opportunities.