Thanks to decades of work into prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, 1 in 2 people diagnosed with cancer today will survive their illness. And only 1 in 3 people will ever get cancer. But there is still so much more work to do if we want that survival rate to keep improving. New treatments are urgently needed to stop cancer in its tracks. But without understanding the disease, there is simply no way to figure out how to make that happen.
The nuances of how cancers behave, how they transform within the body, where they get their fuel (their energy source) to proliferate, and their genetic make-up takes laboratory research, and in-human clinical trials. As federal dollars in cancer clinical trials shift, private investors and global education about the value of research have become more prominent.
Kelsey Moody, PhD and CEO of Ichor Life Sciences, explained “The biggest challenges revolve around assembling teams and the actual science. Developing a novel chemistry and moving that asset through pre-clinical testing and into human clinical trials represents an incredibly diverse body of work, spanning chemistry, formulation, manufacturing, biology, regulatory, and clinical. This complexity is accentuated by the need to perform this work with consideration of intellectual property and budgets. Building and managing an interdisciplinary team to take on such a program is a huge challenge. Science can only go so far in pre-clinical testing. At the end of the day, only human beings can faithfully capture all aspects of a given human disease like cancer.”
When asked what he feels the focus should be on in developing new brain cancer treatments, Moody said, “Brain cancers are notoriously difficult to treat therapeutically. Engineering molecules that can efficiently cross the blood brain barrier and engage therapeutically relevant targets is our horcrux so to speak. While there are several naturally occurring bio-active molecules that may have the potential to treat certain brain cancers, they can be difficult to synthesize and therefore even more challenging to create or improve upon drug properties. We are encouraged by the synthetic chemistry platform at the heart of Cypris Therapeutics because it not only enables synthesis of molecules with known efficacy towards these cancers but offers the opportunity for repetition”.
Cypris Therapeutics (Cypris Tx) is a chemistry-focused pharmaceutical start-up company based in Syracuse, NY. Its technology originated from an industry-academia collaboration between Ichor Life Sciences & Florida State University.
As the CEO for Ichor Life Sciences, I asked Dr. Moody why he felt it is important to back a company like Cypris Tx.
“Firstly, it was important for me to found a company that allowed me to move beyond the limits of treating patients one at a time. In forming Ichor Life Sciences, a drug development company, I was able to create therapies for unmet clinical needs to treat or cure many patients at once. This ethos has been a foundational principle of our company culture. As the company evolved, we began directly supporting portfolio companies through investment and mentorship — among them Cypris.” Elaborating on this, he said, “Cypris has developed a breakthrough manufacturing platform that enables efficient production of a naturally occurring compound known for its anti-cancer activity. Even more importantly, this platform opens the door to creating a pipeline of proprietary synthetic analogs engineered to deliver superior drug-like properties. This capability positions Cypris not only to capitalize on a validated biological mechanism, but also to expand it with novel, high-value therapeutics that can drive long-term competitive advantage and growth.”
The work being done at Cypris is advancing a new generation of small-molecule therapies aimed at aggressive cancers with significant unmet clinical need. Their strategy stands out: by overcoming a complex manufacturing barrier, the company can build on a parent molecule already known to have therapeutic potential while unlocking a broader pipeline of improved treatment advancements.
Moody agrees, “It’s a thoughtful, high-leverage approach that positions Cypris to make meaningful progress where effective treatments are still urgently needed, especially in cancers like brain cancer.”
To learn more about the vital work of Cypris, visit cypristx.com.
Ichor Life Sciences is a vertically integrated contract research organization occupying multiple commercial facilities with complete pre-clinical R&D capabilities.
This article was written by Shannon Traphagen, Owner of Write Life Media and Host of The Game On Glio Podcast.
Hear Cypris’s commercial in our recent podcast episode:
You can also learn more about the innovative work at Cypris in this City Clips interview with Kyle Parella.
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