FEATURED NEWS
August 6, 2019 | Magnify welcomes MyoGene Bio and Myst Therapeutics
Magnify is happy to welcome two new innovative companies to the incubator.
Kaylie Bair | August 6, 2019
MyoGene Bio is developing cutting edge therapeutics for muscle diseases, starting with a gene editing therapy for Duchene muscular dystrophy.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe, progressive muscle wasting disorder that affects approximately 1 in 3,500-5,000 male births worldwide. It leads to premature death in the 20-30s. There is currently no cure and only limited treatments for DMD. MyoGene Bio’s therapy, SPY-DYS45-55, would be applicable to approximately 50% of patients, meaning about 25,000 patients in the US and Europe or 190,000 patients worldwide. The overall dystrophin therapy market is estimated to reach $11B by 2026.
MyoGene Bio’s therapy, SPY-DYS45-55, is a gene editing approach designed to permanently remove a mutational hotspot in the gene that causes Duchenne and allow for dystrophin, the protein otherwise lacking, to be expressed. This directly rescues the underlying cause of disease. By targeting a large region of the gene, MyoGene Bio’s single therapy is applicable to a large cohort of Duchenne patients and is expected to create a very functional protein that would improve disease progression to a milder form.
MyGene Bio’s therapy is currently in the pre-Clinical stage of development. For more information, please visit www.mygenebio.com or contact info@mygenebio.com.
Myst Therapeutics, Inc. is developing novel cancer immunotherapy products designed to harness the power of a patient’s own immune system to destroy solid tumor cancer cells.
Over 400,000 Americans die from cancer every year, with roughly 10% being blood cancers and 90% being solid tumors. While cellular immunotherapies have shown effectiveness for blood cancers, they have yet to do so in solid tumors. Myst Therapeutics is developing the next generation of cellular immunotherapies that will treat solid tumors, a massive unmet need as nearly all epithelial cancer patients have an expected survival of less than 12 months.
Researchers have shown that the body’s own immune cells can recognize many different mutations in solid tumors. The problem is that those cells are often too weak to overcome the tumor. For each patient, Myst Therapeutics selects the unique repertoire of immune cells that will recognize and target the specific mutations of their tumors. Myst then grows and rejuvenates those cells outside the body and reintroduces them in sufficient number and strength to destroy the tumor.
Myst’s therapy targets tumors better than treatments proposed by their competitors. They utilize patended methods for cell rejuvination to increase purity and efficiency. There is still potential for rapid iteratieve improvements.
Myst Therapeutics is currently in the pre-Clinical stage of development. For more information, please visit www.myst-tx.com or contact tj@mysttherapeutics.com .
Magnify is always looking for great startups developing transformative technology to join the innovation ecosystem. If you are a passionate entrepreneur looking to launch a company we encourage you to apply today.