Amal Therapeutics: Fight cancer with novel vaccines
25.01.2017
In 2012, Amal Therapeutics was founded based on nothing more than an idea, a technology platform to develop and progress therapeutic vaccines in oncology. Four years later, initial promising results from preclinical experiments have been published, for example in Cancer Research, one of the most highly cited cancer journal in the world. ”We are now planning to carry out our first clinical trial on patients for an initial agent against intestinal cancer,“ explains Amal founder and CEO Madiha Derouazi. The speed at which the company has managed this is all down to the team, 5 people in total, says Derouazi emphatically. ”I have a dream team full of top specialists,“ she states. The fact that they work together well is not a coincidence. During job interviews for example, the CEO makes sure that applicants have the chance to speak to the entire team.
 Madiha Derouazi: ”I have a dream team full of top specialists“
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Tackle various types of cancer
Amal’s goal is to modulate the immune system to fight cancer. The company developed a vaccine technology platform, namely ”KISIMA“, which they also describe as the ”Swiss army knife of therapeutic cancer vaccines“. The first element of the platform is a cell penetrating peptide derived from a virus which acts as a vector to deliver the vaccine. The second element is another peptide, which plays the role of an adjuvant. The third and lastelement is the ”MAD“ or Multi-Antigenic Domain, which allows to tailor KISIMA for various cancer indications by adding specific and appropriate antigens. ”One key strength of our platform is that we can activate killer cells and helper cells recognizing various cancer cells within an heterogeneous tumor mass,“ explains Madiha Derouazi. The technology is able to generate potent long lasting anti-tumor immunity and avoid tumor immune escape, and it can tackle various types of cancer. The approach is protected by a strong patent portfolio containing 8 patent families, with two patents already granted in the US.
Become a leading innovator in immunotherapy
In March 2016, Amal raised CHF 3 million in a Series A to progress the preclinical development of its lead intestinal cancer vaccine and to further develop its technology platform for therapeutic tumor vaccination. The spin-off of the University of Geneva and the 2012 Venture Kick startup is now in a position to make rapid progress and continue to develop its pipeline in other cancer indications. In addition, a drug intended to combat brain tumors is in the pipeline. In 2016, Amal gained further recognition by jumping from rank 98 to rank 8 of the TOP100 Swiss Startups Award. Amal is now preparing its Series B, to allow a start of clinical trials in 2018.
Amal’s goal is to modulate the immune system to fight cancer. The company developed a vaccine technology platform, namely ”KISIMA“, which they also describe as the ”Swiss army knife of therapeutic cancer vaccines“. The first element of the platform is a cell penetrating peptide derived from a virus which acts as a vector to deliver the vaccine. The second element is another peptide, which plays the role of an adjuvant. The third and lastelement is the ”MAD“ or Multi-Antigenic Domain, which allows to tailor KISIMA for various cancer indications by adding specific and appropriate antigens. ”One key strength of our platform is that we can activate killer cells and helper cells recognizing various cancer cells within an heterogeneous tumor mass,“ explains Madiha Derouazi. The technology is able to generate potent long lasting anti-tumor immunity and avoid tumor immune escape, and it can tackle various types of cancer. The approach is protected by a strong patent portfolio containing 8 patent families, with two patents already granted in the US.
Become a leading innovator in immunotherapy
In March 2016, Amal raised CHF 3 million in a Series A to progress the preclinical development of its lead intestinal cancer vaccine and to further develop its technology platform for therapeutic tumor vaccination. The spin-off of the University of Geneva and the 2012 Venture Kick startup is now in a position to make rapid progress and continue to develop its pipeline in other cancer indications. In addition, a drug intended to combat brain tumors is in the pipeline. In 2016, Amal gained further recognition by jumping from rank 98 to rank 8 of the TOP100 Swiss Startups Award. Amal is now preparing its Series B, to allow a start of clinical trials in 2018.