Drug discovery platform is a tool specifically designed for gene-to-function studies using human macrophages
Macomics – a company focused on macrophage drug discovery – has presented data demonstrating the power of its ENIGMACT macrophage drug discovery platform at the prestigious American Association for Cancer Research’s Annual Meeting.
The company is utilising the promise of macrophage-based approaches to develop novel precision medicines to target disease specific macrophage biology.
The ENIGMAC drug discovery platform is a tool specifically designed for gene-to-function studies using human macrophages. The system integrates large volume human data sets, custom cell models and proprietary human macrophage genome editing capability to establish novel targets, while also unlocking disease specific target biology.
It is ‘disease agnostic’ and can be incorporated with a wide variety of disease-specific conditions and phenotypic readouts.
Meanwhile, within the critical tumour microenvironment macrophages are key components. Most tumours are populated by macrophages and a rich infiltration of this myeloid cell is generally correlated with clinically poor prognosis.
Indeed, tumour-associated macrophages influence all the other cell types in the tumour by creating a pro-tumoural ‘niche’ which favours cancer cells to proliferate, invading other organs in the process.
Dr Steve Myatt, chief executive officer of Macomics, reflected: “We believe that TAMs reprogramming is a very effective strategy. By changing the phenotype of a high number of intra-tumoural TAM, we achieve not only the abrogation of their tumour-supporting functions but importantly also the increase of their tumour-killing properties.”
He added: “In this way, at Macomics, we plan to tip the balance and create a reprogramming domino effect which will influence other immune cells to mount an effective anti-tumour immune response.”
Dr Carola Reis, chief scientific officer of Macomics, explained: “Using ‘Omics’ techniques is fundamental to fully understand the extreme complexity of the TME and identify new targets. Whilst many datasets have been produced in recent years, they lack proper validation at the functional level.”
She concluded: “Our ENIGMAC discovery platform allows stringent bioinformatic analysis coupled with macrophage gene editing and subsequent functional analysis, to enable the identification of genetically validated macrophage therapeutic targets that informs the drug screening assay strategy.”
