Stingray Therapeutics is working on an exciting new effort to fight cancer with 2nd generation immune-oncology agents. Current efforts in this field are the equivalent of trying to do it with one hand of the immune system tied behind its back.

At Stingray, we are unleashing the full immune system to take this fight to an entirely new level.

The first generation of immune-oncology therapies, checkpoint inhibitors, leverage adaptive immunity to counter cancer’s immunosuppressive “checkpoints.” However, many patients develop resistance or are non-responsive to treatment given tumors are “cold” (unrecognizable by the adaptive immune system).

These tumors are cold because the cancer has turned off innate immunity. Innate immunity is the other major arm of the immune system and is your first immune response to a threat. It is also a beacon to reveal the threat and tell adaptive immunity where to go to fight. Immunotherapy drugs like Stingray’s allow innate immunity to reveal the cancer cells previously hidden which provides an opportunity for immune cells to attack and kill the cancer. 

Stingray Therapeutics is developing SR-8541A, an oral small molecule therapeutic targeting the innate immunity via the fundamental STING (STimulator of INterferon Genes) Pathway.

Stingray’s target, Ectonucleotide Pyrophosphatase / Phosphodiesterase 1 (ENPP1), is the direct negative regulator of the STING pathway and is considered to be one of the only “checkpoints” of innate immunity. By blocking ENPP1, the STING pathway is able to produce an inflammatory immune response in the tumor microenvironment which sequesters immune cells to come and fight the cancer.

Stingray is currently enrolling patients in an accelerated Phase I dose escalation trial.

To learn more, or schedule a ZOOM meeting, please fill out the form and one of our team members will respond shortly. Thank you!