NeoPhore

Targeting DNA mismatch repair biology to expand the reach and depth of cancer immunotherapy.

NeoPhore is a biotechnology company aiming to broaden cancer patients’ access to powerful, disease-transforming immunotherapy by transiently blocking DNA mismatch repair (MMR).

Clinicians commonly observe robust and durable immune responses in cancers that genetically lack DNA mismatch repair components — so-called MMR-deficient (MMR-d) tumours. However, the majority of patient tumours are MMR-proficient (MMR-p) and unresponsive to immunotherapy. NeoPhore’s hypothesis is that short-term pharmacological inhibition of MMR, alone or combined with standard-of-care treatments, can reprogramme these unresponsive MMR-p tumours into an immune-responsive MMR-d state, expanding patient access to durable immunotherapy benefit.

The company has prioritised the MutLα heterodimer proteins PMS2 and MLH1 as its lead biological targets, based on their critical enzymatic role in repairing errant DNA during replication, and is advancing dedicated small-molecule discovery programmes against each.