Neoleukin Therapeutics Inc (NLTX)

[mick]

Neoleukin launched in January with the idea to commercialize a synthetic version of a powerful protein called Interleukin-2 (IL-2), which can fight cancer but is extremely toxic to patients. Currently, IL-2 is approved for the treatment of melanoma and renal cell carcinoma, where it cures 5 to 10 percent of patients.

The University of Washington researchers created a version of IL-2 that might be used to stimulate T-cells to attack tumors safely. They used a protein design program called Rosetta to make a molecule that bound to the two receptors on T-cells but lacked a third, which is thought to cause the harm.

The startup is one of many to launch out of the Institute for Protein Design, which is led by Professor David Baker. The institute won a $45 million grant from The Audacious Project at TED earlier this year.

Neoleukin also formed with the help of UW’s CoMotion, which offers support to early-stage companies and has launched more than two dozen startups in the past two years. Other biotech startups from CoMotion include PvP Biologics, which is developing a therapy for celiac disease, and Cyrus Biotechnology, a software-as-a-service company for protein design.