5 Top Pharma Startups Tackling Pancreatic Cancer

Staying ahead of the technology curve means strengthening your competitive advantage. That is why we give you data-driven innovation insights into the pharma industry. This time, you get to discover 5 hand-picked startups tackling pancreatic cancer.

Global Startup Heat Map: 5 Top Startups Tackling Pancreatic Cancer

The 5 pharma startups you will explore below are chosen based on our data-driven startup scouting approach, taking into account factors such as location, founding year, and relevance of technology, among others. This analysis is based on the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering over 1.3 million startups & scaleups globally.

The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights the 5 pharma startups & scaleups our Innovation Researchers curated for this report. Moreover, you get insights into regions that observe a high startup activity and the global geographic distribution of the 95 companies we analyzed for this specific topic.

Willowcroft Healthcare – Non-Toxic Drugs

Conventional chemotherapy is highly toxic and causes intensive effects such as hair loss, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and anemia. Pharmaceutical advancements provide an avenue to create non-toxic drug solutions to treat cancers, especially pancreatic cancer. Startups and scaleups develop non-toxic drugs for the treatment of pancreatic cancer to improve the quality of life for the patient and reduce the chance of relapse.

The US-based startup Willowcroft Healthcare develops WCH50H, a non-toxic drug to treat patients suffering from pancreatic cancer. The startup’s solution effectively inhibits cancer cells from replicating due to adaptive immunity. As a result, this ensures that the body knows how to fight cancer cells. WHC50H starves the cancer cells and tumors by cutting off their food supply and further re-tunes oxygen towards healthy cells.

ElmediX – Oncothermia

Hypothermia in oncology is a method that controls the localized application of heat to the cellular membranes of malignant cells. This, in tandem with chemotherapy, enables the effective delivery of cancer drugs to the tumor and improves the efficacy of the treatment. To this end, startups develop oncothermia-based solutions for treating pancreatic cancer which minimizes the risk of unnecessary toxicity to healthy cells.

Belgian startup ElmediX develops a technology platform to accurately administer optimal thermal doses to boost the effectiveness of conventional pancreatic cancer treatments. The startup maintains the patient’s body temperature at 41.5°C for a few hours to induce a cytotoxic effect. This exposure to heat increases the body’s sensitivity to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This enables medical professionals to deliver better healthcare to patients suffering from pancreatic cancer.

Amplia Therapeutics – Immuno-Oncology

One of the ways to boost the natural defenses of the human body against cancer cells is immunotherapy. Such therapies improve both the innate and adaptive immunity in patients. There are various ways to administer immunotherapies including oral, intravenous, topical, and intravesical. The use of monoclonal antibodies, checkpoint inhibitors, cancer vaccines, and nonspecific immunotherapies in cancer treatments helps doctors effectively treat pancreatic cancer.

Australian startup Amplia Therapeutics develops focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitors as solutions for treating pancreatic and ovarian cancer. The startup’s lead candidate AMP945 is a small molecule FAK inhibitor that removes the chances of fibrosis formation around the tumor, making it easier for treatment in cases of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Moreover, the inhibition of FAK potentially sensitizes treatment-resistant cancers to existing chemotherapeutics.

Accuronix – Molecular-Targeted Drug Conjugates (MTDCs)

Conventional cancer therapeutics have multiple side effects that cause a plethora of problems for patients suffering from cancer. Drug conjugates work like a smart bomb that targets malignant cells and also effectively reduces the damage to healthy cells in the body. Startups and scaleups develop molecular-targeted drug conjugates to effectively deliver cancer drugs directly to malignant tumors.

The US-based startup Accuronix develops a drug discovery platform that targets the sigma-2 receptor on cancer cells. The startup’s lead candidate ACXT-3102, enables effective ligand binding to deliver targeted cytotoxic payloads in patients suffering from pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Accuronix also is developing MTDCs for other types of cancers such as breast or brain cancer.

Quimatryx – Histone Deacetylases (HDAC) Selective Inhibitors

Healthy heart, liver, pancreas, brain, and kidneys typically have HDAC6 expression that regulates gene expression and transcription. Advancements in gene therapy help pharma companies tackle pancreatic cancer in novel ways. Startups and scaleups leverage the histone deacetylase protein superfamily to develop innovative cancer treatment solutions.

Spanish startup Quimatryx develops QTX125, a patented HDAC6 selective inhibitor for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. The startup’s solution reduces the side effects of cancer treatment. QTX125 is also successful in tumor regression without the toxic side effects and is currently in preclinical development.

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