Company launched from the Stanford Innovative Medicines Accelerator (IMA) with $6.5M seed funding led by NFX with participation from other high-quality investors

该公司由斯坦福创新药物加速器（IMA）发起，拥有650万美元的种子资金，由NFX牵头，其他高质量投资者参与

TwoStep is advancing a versatile multi-targeted platform that exploits key markers highly expressed on solid tumors, overcoming limitations of existing approaches to transform cancer treatment

TwoStep正在推进一个多功能的多靶点平台，该平台利用在实体瘤上高度表达的关键标记，克服了现有癌症治疗方法的局限性

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- TwoStep Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing new targeted therapeutics for solid tumors, today announced its official launch following a successful $6.5 million seed round led by NFX, with participation from other investors including 2048 Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, Cooley’s affiliated fund GC&H Investments, and the family office of the founder of Arcadia Investment Partners.

加利福尼亚州帕洛阿尔托（商业新闻短讯）--开发新型实体瘤靶向治疗药物的生物技术公司TwoStep Therapeutics今天宣布正式上市，此前NFX领导了一轮650万美元的种子投资，其他投资者包括2048 Ventures、Alexandria Venture Investments、Cooley附属基金GC＆H Investments以及Arcadia Investment Partners创始人的家族理财办公室。

Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance TwoStep’s therapeutic pipeline of solid tumor-targeting therapies, with an initial focus on targeted cytotoxic drug delivery and immunotherapy..

融资所得将用于推进TwoStep实体瘤靶向治疗的治疗管道，最初的重点是靶向细胞毒性药物输送和免疫治疗。

Solid tumors, which account for approximately 90% of all cancers, have been historically challenging to treat due to a scarcity of extracellular targets that meet the criteria for effective treatment delivery. While tumor-targeted therapies have begun to transform the treatment paradigm for hematological malignancies, their viability in solid tumors has been limited to small subsets of patients with high levels of specific tumor markers.

实体瘤约占所有癌症的90%，由于缺乏符合有效治疗标准的细胞外靶标，因此在历史上一直具有治疗挑战性。虽然肿瘤靶向治疗已经开始改变血液系统恶性肿瘤的治疗模式，但它们在实体瘤中的生存能力仅限于具有高水平特异性肿瘤标志物的小部分患者。

This presents a critical unmet need – and vast therapeutic opportunity – to develop a tumor-targeted approach that can viably treat the majority of solid tumors..

这为开发一种可以有效治疗大多数实体瘤的肿瘤靶向方法提供了一个尚未满足的关键需求和巨大的治疗机会。

TwoStep Therapeutics’ delivery platform is built around a unique tumor-targeting polyspecific integrin-binding peptide (PIP) that can selectively bind several targets that are highly expressed on solid tumors. This multi-targeting feature enables the agent’s broad applicability to a wide range of tumor types and patient populations, overcoming the limitations of single-antigen targeting approaches..

TwoStep Therapeutics的递送平台是围绕一种独特的肿瘤靶向多特异性整联蛋白结合肽（PIP）构建的，该肽可以选择性结合在实体瘤上高度表达的几个靶标。这种多靶向功能使该药物能够广泛适用于多种肿瘤类型和患者人群，克服了单一抗原靶向方法的局限性。

“For the majority of solid tumors lacking well-defined targets, there are few precise treatment options and limited development of new modalities, which is a painful reality for many people with cancer,” said Caitlyn Miller, PhD, CEO and co-founder of TwoStep Therapeutics. “Our initial focus at TwoStep is to couple our tumor-targeting technology with clinically-validated payloads, which has the potential to extend the benefits of paradigm-shifting therapies to a greater number of patients.”.

TwoStep Therapeutics首席执行官兼联合创始人凯特琳·米勒（Caitlyn Miller）博士说：“对于大多数缺乏明确目标的实体瘤，几乎没有精确的治疗选择，新方式的开发也有限，这对许多癌症患者来说是一个痛苦的现实。”。“我们在TwoStep的最初重点是将我们的肿瘤靶向技术与临床验证的有效载荷相结合，这有可能将范式转换疗法的益处扩展到更多患者。”

“NFX Bio backs scientist-founders creating ‘defensible magic’ for massive markets. Imagine one system that can target most solid tumors and deliver the exact treatment needed. It could mean many lives saved with one core technology platform,” said Omri Amirav-Drory, PhD, General Partner at NFX. “Caitlyn is a perfect example for a ‘scientist-founder’ and is surrounded with amazing scientific founders from Stanford including Jennifer Cochran, Ronald Levy, and Carolyn Bertozzi.”.

NFX的普通合伙人OmriAmiravDrory博士说：“NFX Bio支持科学家创始人为大规模市场创造“防御魔法”。想象一下，一个系统可以针对大多数实体瘤并提供所需的精确治疗。这可能意味着一个核心技术平台可以挽救许多生命。”。“凯特琳是一位‘科学家创始人’的完美例子，周围都是斯坦福大学令人惊叹的科学创始人，包括詹妮弗·科克伦、罗纳德·利维和卡罗琳·贝托齐。”

TwoStep’s unique PIP agent enables targeted delivery to virtually any solid tumor by binding multiple tumor-associated integrins. Additionally, by binding with strong affinity to integrin conformations that are highly expressed on solid tumor tissue, exposure to healthy tissue is minimized. The modular design of this tumor-targeting agent makes for a modality-agnostic technology with tunable pharmacokinetics, compatible with a diversity of therapeutic payloads..

TwoStep独特的PIP试剂通过结合多种肿瘤相关整联蛋白，可以靶向递送至几乎任何实体瘤。另外，通过与在实体瘤组织上高度表达的整联蛋白构象以强亲和力结合，可以最大程度地减少对健康组织的暴露。这种肿瘤靶向剂的模块化设计使得具有可调药代动力学的模态不可知技术与多种治疗有效载荷兼容。

“In its compact form, PIP is a synthetic, ultra-stable peptide that has been engineered to localize and penetrate tumors – ideal properties for broad targeted therapy applications,” said Jennifer Cochran, PhD, co-founder of TwoStep Therapeutics and Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University, whose laboratory first developed the PIP molecule..

斯坦福大学TwoStep Therapeutics联合创始人兼生物工程教授Jennifer Cochran博士说：“PIP是一种合成的超稳定肽，经过工程改造可定位和穿透肿瘤，是广泛靶向治疗应用的理想特性。”

Development of TwoStep’s solid tumor-focused platform was driven by the combined expertise of its founding team in chemical biology, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and immuno-oncology. The founders established in vivo proof of concept of its multi-targeted agent using various therapeutic payloads and fusion proteins in the academic labs of its co-founders, and later within the Stanford Innovative Medicines Accelerator (IMA).

TwoStep实体瘤聚焦平台的开发是由其创始团队在化学生物学，抗体-药物偶联物（ADC）和免疫肿瘤学方面的综合专业知识推动的。创始人在其共同创始人的学术实验室以及后来在斯坦福创新药物加速器（IMA）内使用各种治疗有效载荷和融合蛋白建立了其多靶向药物的体内概念验证。

It is the first company to emerge from the IMA entrepreneur-in-residence program..

它是第一家从IMA常驻企业家计划中脱颖而出的公司。

Caitlyn Miller, PhD, founded TwoStep Therapeutics in collaboration with world-renowned academic entrepreneurs affiliated with Stanford University, including Carolyn Bertozzi, PhD, Professor of Chemistry, Investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Nobel Laureate, Jennifer Cochran, PhD, Senior Associate Vice Provost for Research and Professor of Bioengineering, and Ronald Levy, MD, Professor of Medicine, Oncology.

凯特琳·米勒（CaitlynMiller）博士与斯坦福大学（Stanford University）附属的世界知名学术企业家合作创立了TwoStep Therapeutics，其中包括霍华德·休斯医学研究所（HowardHughes Medical Institute）研究员兼诺贝尔奖获得者卡罗琳·贝托齐（CarolynBertozzi）博士，研究高级副教务长兼生物工程教授詹妮弗·科克伦（JenniferCochran）博士，以及医学博士罗纳德·利维（RonaldLevy），肿瘤学教授。

As CEO Dr. Miller is joined by Chief Business Officer Michael Ostrach and drug development and scientific advisor Robert Coffman, PhD, both veterans of Dynavax..

首席执行官米勒博士与首席商务官迈克尔·奥斯特拉赫（MichaelOstrach）以及药物开发和科学顾问罗伯特·科夫曼（RobertCoffman）博士（Dr。

About TwoStep Therapeutics

关于TwoStep Therapeutics

TwoStep Therapeutics is pioneering a multi-targeting platform to advance a pipeline of targeted therapies that are broadly applicable to any solid tumor. With this approach, the company aims to transform cancer treatment by extending precision medicines to more diverse tumor types and patient populations, for which few options exist.

TwoStep Therapeutics开创了一个多靶向平台，以推进广泛适用于任何实体瘤的靶向治疗管道。通过这种方法，该公司旨在通过将精准药物扩展到更多样化的肿瘤类型和患者人群来改变癌症治疗，而这些人群几乎没有选择。

As one of the first companies to emerge from Stanford University’s Innovative Medicines Accelerator, TwoStep is the result of breakthrough innovation from iconic scientists, including Nobel Laureate Carolyn Bertozzi, Jennifer Cochran, and Ronald Levy. For more information, visit twosteptx.com..

作为首批从斯坦福大学创新药物加速器中崛起的公司之一，TwoStep是标志性科学家突破性创新的结果，这些科学家包括诺贝尔奖获得者卡罗琳·贝托齐、詹妮弗·科克伦和罗纳德·利维。有关更多信息，请访问twosteptx.com。