About Us

Discovered at Minerva

Since the 1990’s, the transmembrane protein MUC1 was known to exist in a different pattern on cancer cells than on healthy cells. However, scientists couldn’t figure out if its aberrant pattern was an artifact of cancers or a cause of cancers.

Minerva discovered that on cancer cells, MUC1 is cleaved and most of the protein is released from the cell surface, unmasking the binding site for a powerful growth factor. The cleavage released a part of the protein that kept it in a clustered pattern; clustering also masked the binding site for the activating growth factor. Minerva gave the cleaved MUC1 the name MUC1* (pronounced muk 1 star). MUC1* is a powerful growth factor receptor that mediates the growth of over 80% of all solid tumor cancers. It plays a foundational role in the both the rapid growth of cancer cells and their acquired chemo-resistance to common therapeutics.

Prior attempts to produce a cancer therapeutic targeting MUC1 all failed as they targeted the extra cellular component of MUC1 that has been clipped and is no longer present on cancerous cells.

CAR T for treatment of solid tumor cancers

Autologous CAR T therapy has had success in blood cancers by targeting a protein called CD19, which is specific to B cells.  The CAR T cells then eliminate the patient’s entire B cell population, both cancerous and normal B cells.

Success in solid tumors has been elusive because there is no solid tumor equivalent.  We believe that targeting MUC1* is the best approach:

• MUC1* is a membrane-bound growth factor receptor that drives growth and metastasis
• MUC1 is aberrantly expressed on over 75% of all solid tumor cancers
  • Over 90% of breast cancers
  • Over 80% ovarian cancers
  • Over 75% pancreatic cancers
  • Over 70% lung cancers
• Since MUC1 is cleaved by a different enzyme in cancerous and normal environments, Minerva’s antibodies can differentiate between healthy MUC1* and cancerous MUC1*

ADC's: great outcomes in mice using our antibody with attached payload; Lung,Breast, and Pancreatic cancer, wild type, not doped.

BiSpecifics: POC

Small Molecules: that inhibit the growth of metastatic cancer

Relationship between Cancer Cells and Stem Cells

Minerva discovered that cancer cells are often otherwise healthy cells that have been or are currently being reprogrammed backwards towards a stem cell state.  After the discovery of MUC1*, Minerva discovered the growth factors that bound MUC1*: dimers of NME1, and NME7_AB.  NME1 is self regulating, and required for normal cell growth.  NME7_AB is an onco-embryonic growth factor, and it can only be controlled through transcription and subsequent degradation.  It is present in every cell of an embryo until Day 3, then only in the inner cell mass until about Day 10.  It should not be present in normal adult life.

Regenerative Medicine

When stem cells (either embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells) are grown in NME7_AB and the absence of other growth factors, cells remain in the naïve state.  These naïve state stem cells are free of cell fate decisions and can be further expanded and differentiated.  When they are differentiated, they do so in a synchronized manner, with high yields and high cell functionality.  This growth factor is the basis of the AlphaSTEM^TM naïve stem cell system and our regenerative medicine pipeline.