We are a clinical stage biotechnology company developing therapeutic antibodies to treat allergic, inflammatory and proliferative diseases.
We create monoclonal antibodies that activate or block inhibitory receptors on immune cells. Activating inhibitory receptors allows us to directly inhibit cells involved in disease pathogenesis and, in the setting of allergy and inflammation, has the potential to reduce inflammation. In addition, activating inhibitory receptors can counteract multiple activation pathways and thereby has the potential to reduce inflammation more broadly than approaches targeting a single activation pathway. In the setting of proliferative diseases, blocking the inhibitory function of the receptors could restore the immune cell’s ability to identify and kill proliferative cells.
The Company’s most advanced antibody in clinical development is AK006. AK006 targets Siglec-6, an inhibitory receptor expressed on mast cells. Mast cells are widely distributed in the body and play a central role in the inflammatory response. Inappropriately activated mast cells have been identified as key drivers in a number of severe diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract, eyes, skin, lungs and other organs. In preclinical studies, AK006 appears to provide deep mast cell inhibition and, in addition to its inhibitory activity, reduce mast cell numbers.