Earli is using AI to design genetic switches that turn on only in cancer cells and program them into “factories” that produce their own immune therapies against themselves in vivo.  For that, activation exclusively in cancer cells is critical, arguably the most important problem in cancer.  Earli has demonstrated an exceptionally high specificity and sensitivity level of its genetic switches across human cancer samples, followed by strong efficacy against tumors in multiple pre-clinical models, and safety in NHPs. Existing immune oncology drugs are powerful weapons in the fight against cancer. They can sometimes cure even late-stage cancer patients. Unfortunately, only 35% of patients respond to them; their median life extension is 8 months; and the recurrence rate is 85%.  The main problem is that these checkpoint inhibitors can only unfold their power if there immune system also gets stimulated against the tumor at the same time.  That stimulation often leads to systemic toxicity, caused by “On-Target/Off-Tumor” effects: The stimulation drug does not only activate on the cancer target, but also elsewhere in the body, in healthy cells.  The result is that the dose needs to be reduced, which limits the efficacy of these potent drugs.

Earli’s newly designed cancerLNPs deliver the genetic switches to tissues beyond the liver, where they turn on only in cancer cells, through a transcriptional control layer. Once activated, they program the cancer cell to produce an immune activation drug in vivo against themselves – T Cell Engagers, cytokines, or multi-specifics. The cancer is programmed against itself. Earli’s in vivo drug production platform opens new possibilities for precision cancer therapies across many solid cancers and drug classes. Millions of cancer patients are waiting for new treatment approaches.