Singenavir

We aim to improve cancer immunotherapies by using a virus that produces an enzyme rendering cancer cells more vulnerable for destruction by immune cells.

Only a minority of all cancer patients benefit from currently available cancer immunotherapy due to an immunosuppressive microenvironment, immune cell dysfunction and aberrant glycosylation in cancer influencing tumor immunity and angiogenesis. Most approaches that aim at the improvement of cancer immunotherapy target protein receptors. We propose a unique way to make cancer cells more recognisable for the immune system. Our approach removes the immune-suppressant carbohydrate sialic acid from the surface of cancer cells rendering them more vulnerable for destruction by immune cells such as T cells.