Recolony wins CHF 150,000 to advance a revolutionary cancer immunotherapy
21.02.2023
Recolony is developing a therapy that aims to regenerate the intestinal microbiota of cancer patients to trigger a potent anti-tumor immune response. The bacteria-based treatment promises to be more effective than current immunotherapies and could also have preventative functions. The startup was awarded CHF 150,000 by Venture Kick, winning the third stage of the program.
 Recolony’s co-founders: Dr. Egle Katkeviciute (CSO), Dr. Ana Montalban-Arques (CEO), and Dr. Philipp Busenhart (CBO)
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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent cancer and the second leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. In advanced stages, five-year survival rates are below 15%. Recent technological advances in biomedical research have revealed the intricacies of the human microbiome and its role in our health, including the immune response against cancer.
Recolony has identified specific bacteria that are less abundant in patients with CRC than in healthy individuals and has found that supplementing those bacteria can trigger an anti-tumor immune response in patients with CRC, melanoma, breast, and lung cancer. This allows the treatment of tumors with low immune-cell infiltration, which represents a serious challenge in immunotherapies. The treatment, which consists of the oral intake of capsules filled with freeze-dried bacteria, promises to be faster, easier, and more effective than current immunotherapies for cancer.
Additionally, they have identified the bacteria-derived molecule that is responsible for the immune-activating effect as well as the receptor that is targeted by that molecule. Since they could show that activation of this specific receptor is sufficient for provoking a strong anti-tumor immune effect, they will develop a small molecule targeting that receptor as a second approach. With the ultimate goal to combine the two approaches, Recolony will be able to achieve maximum target activation for acute treatment and restore the microbiome for a long-term effect that will decrease tumor recurrence in cancer patients.
In 2025, the biotech startup plans to perform the first in-human clinical trials with CRC patients at the University Hospital of Zurich. Globally, colorectal cancer therapeutics are estimated the be worth USD 18.5 billion by 2023, with a measured CAGR of 6.1% since 2018.
The startup will invest the CHF 150,000 awarded by Venture Kick to advance their small molecule program towards the preclinical phase, in order to provide cancer patients with a novel, more effective, and safer therapeutic solution.
Recolony was co-founded by Dr. Ana Montalban-Arques (CEO), an expert on host-microbes interactions and project leader at the Wyss Zurich Translational Center; Dr. Philipp Busenhart (CBO), an expert in cancer biology and head of business development at Wyss Zurich Translational Center; Dr. Eglè Katkeviciute (CSO), a microbiology and immunology expert and head of R&D at Wyss Zurich Translational Center; and Prof. Michael Scharl, Head of Research in the department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University Hospital Zürich.
"Venture Kick has provided us with great feedback and support through the program that has been essential for Recolony to evolve," the co-founders stated. "Moreover, the exposure, network, and funding received have taken Recolony to the next level."
Recolony has identified specific bacteria that are less abundant in patients with CRC than in healthy individuals and has found that supplementing those bacteria can trigger an anti-tumor immune response in patients with CRC, melanoma, breast, and lung cancer. This allows the treatment of tumors with low immune-cell infiltration, which represents a serious challenge in immunotherapies. The treatment, which consists of the oral intake of capsules filled with freeze-dried bacteria, promises to be faster, easier, and more effective than current immunotherapies for cancer.
Additionally, they have identified the bacteria-derived molecule that is responsible for the immune-activating effect as well as the receptor that is targeted by that molecule. Since they could show that activation of this specific receptor is sufficient for provoking a strong anti-tumor immune effect, they will develop a small molecule targeting that receptor as a second approach. With the ultimate goal to combine the two approaches, Recolony will be able to achieve maximum target activation for acute treatment and restore the microbiome for a long-term effect that will decrease tumor recurrence in cancer patients.
In 2025, the biotech startup plans to perform the first in-human clinical trials with CRC patients at the University Hospital of Zurich. Globally, colorectal cancer therapeutics are estimated the be worth USD 18.5 billion by 2023, with a measured CAGR of 6.1% since 2018.
The startup will invest the CHF 150,000 awarded by Venture Kick to advance their small molecule program towards the preclinical phase, in order to provide cancer patients with a novel, more effective, and safer therapeutic solution.
Recolony was co-founded by Dr. Ana Montalban-Arques (CEO), an expert on host-microbes interactions and project leader at the Wyss Zurich Translational Center; Dr. Philipp Busenhart (CBO), an expert in cancer biology and head of business development at Wyss Zurich Translational Center; Dr. Eglè Katkeviciute (CSO), a microbiology and immunology expert and head of R&D at Wyss Zurich Translational Center; and Prof. Michael Scharl, Head of Research in the department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University Hospital Zürich.
"Venture Kick has provided us with great feedback and support through the program that has been essential for Recolony to evolve," the co-founders stated. "Moreover, the exposure, network, and funding received have taken Recolony to the next level."