Therapeutic Areas


Interstitial cystitis

Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a chronic, debilitating and poorly treated bladder disease with a strong female bias. Also known as bladder pain syndrome or painful bladder syndrome, IC affects up to 7 million women in the US alone. Patients suffer from debilitating symptoms that impact their physical and emotional health, and many are unable to find relief with available therapies. The disease is believed to develop as a result of dysfunction in the protective epithelial layer that lines the inside of the bladder.

TTI is developing a recombinant growth factor, TTI-1612, that can be administered locally to repair the defective bladder lining.

Cancer

Cancer remains one of the most serious public health issues. In the US, cancer is responsible for 23% of all deaths (more than 500,000 per year), making it the second leading killer behind heart disease. The total economic burden of this disease is estimated to be $143 billion annually. Although the development of new therapeutics has led to modest increases in patient survival, there is clearly a pressing medical need for additional treatment strategies.

TTI’s approach to cancer treatment is based upon the concept of blocking immunoregulatory pathways that tumour cells exploit in order to suppress a patient's own anti-cancer immune response. One such pathway, the CD47-SIRP a interaction, is used by cancer stem cells to protect themselves from destruction by macrophages. TTI is developing a fusion protein (SIRP a Fc) that blocks that blocks CD47 and enhances the ability of macrophages to kill cancer stem cells. A second immunosupressive pathway, the CD200-CD200R interaction, is also exploited by tumour cells. TTI is developing a CD200 blocking antibody to neutralize this negative signal and promote anti-tumour responses.


Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a medical procedure that replaces blood cells destroyed by disease, chemotherapy, and/or radiation with new, healthy cells. It is the most important clinical application of stem cell biology. HSCT is widely used in cancer treatment, as well as in the treatment of inherited genetic diseases such as thalassemia and bone marrow failure syndromes. Older and medically infirm patients, however, are often not eligible for HSCT because they cannot withstand the aggressive chemotherapy conditioning that precedes transplantation. In addition, graft failure remains a significant problem, and emerging data suggests that this failure may be due to macrophages attacking the transplanted cells.

TTI is developing a soluble fusion protein, CD47Fc, to enhance engraftment of hemotopoietic stem cells by suppressing the activity of macrophages. By inducing stem cell engraftment in recipients under reduced chemotheraphy conditioning, CD47Fc has the potential to unlock an unmet market in the HSCT field.


Autoimmune/Inflammatory disease

Normally the immune system provides a powerful defence mechanism against dangerous pathogens while sparing injury to host tissue. Under certain circumstances, however, this delicate balance becomes disturbed, resulting in autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease. These conditions, which include rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease and lupus, have a staggering impact on public health. In the United States alone, autoimmune diseases are estimated to affect 14 - 22 million people (5 - 8% of the population), about twice as many as cancer, with the cost of treatment estimated at greater than $100 billion annually.

TTI is taking several parallel immune-mediated approaches to the treatment of autoimmune/inflammatory diseases. One approach is to down-regulate the immune system through the CD200 pathway. The company's CD200Fc protein has demonstrated remarkable therapeutic effects in a number of animal models of disease.

Nectrotizing Enterocolitis

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a life-threatening intestinal disorder that occurs predominantly in premature infants. NEC is a complex disease likely caused by a number of factors, including gut immaturity, enteral feeding, intestinal ischemia, bacterial colonization and inflammation. The current treatments are non-specific, involving use of intravenous antibiotics, supportive care for systemic sequellae, and possibly surgery to remove necrotic tissue. None of these approaches are particularly effective. The mortality rate from NEC is 30-50%, and has remained unchanged over the last three decades. Infants who survive NEC are frequently afflicted with long-term developmental problems and diseases such as short bowel syndrome. Thus, despite advances in many other areas of neonatal care, NEC remains a serious medical problem.

TTI's approach to prevention of NEC is to accelerate the development of the immature GI tract through oral treatment with a naturally occurring growth factor.