Sentrimed

Sentrimed is a biopharmaceutical company creating safer, oral oncology therapies that harness cell-to-cell communications critical to reviving the body's ability to recognize, immobilize and eliminate tumor cells via a validated pathway. Sentrimed is a leader in contact normalization, a cellular communication process that enables normal cells to inhibit tumor cell proliferation and migration, and trigger tumor cell destruction. Tumor cell motility and survival are core issues in cancer impacting proliferation, migration, metastasis and overall patient prognosis. When mutagenesis occurs and normal cells are transformed into tumor cells, podoplanin (PDPN) is induced, disrupting normal cell-to-cell communication, and allowing tumor cells to escape contact normalization, proliferate and migrate. PDPN, a transmembrane glycoprotein receptor that is an early expressed tumor biomarker, has been shown to be critical for cancer progression and correlated with poor outcomes. Our lead product, MASL®, is a novel, orally dosed, bioactive lectin. MASL is a potent inhibitor of PDPN and blocks PDPN mediated activation of Cdc42 impacting multiple signaling pathways essential for tumor growth, angiogenesis, metastasis, and cell resistance. MASL, by efficiently blocking PDPN, revives contact normalization to inhibit tumor cell proliferation and migration, and trigger destruction. MASL has demonstrated both cytostatic effects (an 86% inhibition of cell motility) and cytotoxic effects (a 75% inhibition of cell viability) on drug resistant human oral squamous cell carcinoma cultures. Animal studies have not produced any identifiable adverse effects. Sentrimed has targeted Head and Neck Cancer as the initial indication for MASL due to the market size, growth and significant unmet needs.