Our Mission
To discover and develop novel immunotherapies for unmet medical needs. Dedicated to advancing innovative technologies to address the key challenges of traditional cancer therapies and deliver improved treatments for patients with cancer.
Pipeline
Pre-Clinical
Phase I
Phase II
Indication
Collaborator
Small Molecule
(For Multiple Cancer Types)
NSCLC
AML/MDS
PDAC
CAR-T
(Expand to Multiple Cancer Types)
Prostate Cancer
Hematological Malignancy
NT-391
High AXL levels correlate with increased risk of metastasis, therapy-resistant and immune-evasive tumors, poor prognosis and low overall survival rates. No AXL inhibitor has been approved to clinical use so far.
NT-391, a small molecule targeting a member of TAM (Tyro3, AXL, Mer) family of (RTKs) and implicated to treat a wide range of tumor types, may be a potent and selective AXL inhibitor with the advantages as follows:
- Highly selective, potent and orally bioavailable with desirable pharmaceutical properties
- Potential combo applications in immuno-oncology, such as CAR-T technologies*.
- Solid intellectual property position on inhibitors
- Simple chemical synthesis
- Multiple applicability: strong tumor growth suppression as monotherapy and in combination with SoC therapies in solid tumor (NSCLC, and colon cancer) and hematological malignancies (CML and AML)
- Phase I (NT-391-101) study with 35 Subjects in Canada domenstrating great safety and clinical benefit rate
- Phase Ib/IIa (NT-391-102, SKYLITE): combination with KEYTRUDA (Pembrolizumab), NSCLC, US & Canada in process
- Phase Ib study to determine safety and RP2D has been completed
- Phase IIa clinical trial of combination therapy of NT-391 with pembrolizumab (Merck’s anti-PD-1 antibody) (NT-391-102, SKYLITE) in advanced metastatic NSCLC is on-going in the US and Canada and is expected to complete in Q2/2026
NT-0111
CAIX expression induced under hypoxia, a mechanism awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize. CAIX has become a desirable drug target due to its low expression in normal tissues and overexpression in many cancer tissues.
NT-0111, a First-in-class CAIX Inhibitor, overcomes resistance to chemotherapy and enhances immunotherapy. As a potential first-in-class medicine. NT-0111 will be a strong candidate to be in combination therapy with other best sale chemotherapeutic medicine to expand the billion dollar market.
- High selectivity and potency with desirable ADME properties
- Orally bioavailable
- Potential to use in combination with other therapies such as CAR-T technologies
- Solid intellectual property position on inhibitors
- Easy and straight forward chemical synthesis
- Multiple applicability: strong tumor growth inhibition in combination with SoC therapies in solid tumor (breast, NSCLC, PDAC, GMB) and hematological tumors (e.g. AML)
- Phase I (NCT02215850) trials don’t witness DLTs and objective responses
- Phase Ib (IIT, collaboration with BC Cancer) study aiming to the treatment of Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC0 in combination with Gemcitabine has been initiated, and is expect ed to complete in 4Q24
- Phase II will be initiated in 2025-2026, US & Canada
NT-1921
NT-1921, powered by the SMART technology, is an innovative solution to treat prostate cancer.
- Modulate immune activity of tumor micro environment (TME) by activating tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes(TILs) activity and reducing regulatory T cell (Treg) population in TME
- Improve CAR-T cell proliferation and persistence while minimizing potential systemic side effects
- Enhance the effectiveness of killing cancer cells due to cytokine release & accumulation in TME
- Phase I investigator-initiated trials (NCT05656573) for mCRPC (Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer) demonstrated high safety and high efficacy (DCR 100% and ORR30 62% with > 30% decline in serum PSA)
- Potential to re-sensitizing the first-line antiandrogen drugs for mCRPC patients, such as Xtandi (enzalutamide), Erleada (apalutamide), Casodex (bicalutamide) etc.
NT-1921
NT-2022, specifically targeting to B-cell malignancies, is an innovative CAR-T therapy for Hematological Malignancy (ALL, CLL & NHL) and autoimmune diseases
- Modulate immune activity of tumor micro-environment (TME)
- Efficiently block tumor & TME immune checkpoint
- Improve therapeutic activity compared to conventional CAR-T by enhancement of CAR-T cell proliferation and persistence
- Unleash the full anti-tumor potential of CAR-T cell
- Reduce risk of systemic toxicity
Technology
Proprietary nSMART CAR-T Technology
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy stands as a transformative advancement and has achieved unprecedented success in cancer immunotherapy. However, there are many challenges limiting its application in solid tumors and hematological malignancies, including life-threatening CAR-T cell associated toxicities, limited efficacy against solid tumors, inhibition and resistance in B cell malignancies, antigen escape, limited persistence, poor trafficking and tumor infiltration, and the immunosuppressive microenvironment.
Nova has developed its own proprietary nSMART CAR-T technology to address the challenges of traditional CAR-T therapy. Our platform enables the effective improvement of the killing efficacy of CAR-T cells against tumors, alleviation of adverse effects, and reduction of the risk of relapse by the distinguished characteristics of the followings:
Switchable
- Precise control of CAR-T cell activation
- Minimize TLS(tumor lysis syndrome) & CRS(cytokine release syndrome)
- Overcome tumor heterogeneity
- Leveraging target antigen density
- Combating antigen-loss/mutation
Immune-Modulatory
- Activate and engage TILs(tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes) in-situ
- Reduce systemic immune modulator exposure
ARmored
- Improve CAR-T cell fitness and persistence
- Improve immunological memory
- Prevent immune suppression in TME