Commence Bio Information

The STaRT of something big in immunotherapy! Commence Bio is founded on the vision that cancer and inflammatory diseases can be optimally treated by rebooting patients’ immune systems with a new class of medicinal stem cells: MSC1 & MSC2. Through the use of proprietary Stimulated Toll-like Receptor Technology [STaRT], adult, allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells [MSC] are transformed into powerful immunomodulators that migrate to the sites of dysfunction and – via a multi-pronged effect - re-awaken appropriate immune responses. MSC1 & MSC2 have proven to be safe, potent, efficacious immunotherapies in pre-clinical models of disease, including ovarian cancer, demyelinating diseases (i.e. multiple sclerosis and Krabbe disease), acute lung injury/ARDS, Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetic neuropathic pain. Commence Bio’s lead candidate is CMB-200, an MSC2 therapy for acute optic neuritis/clinically isolated syndrome, which is often the first sign of multiple sclerosis. About STaRT – Stimulated Toll-like Receptor Technology STaRT is inspired by nature, in that it utilizes mimetics for the body’s wound-healing signals to program mesenchymal stem cells [MSC] as either anti-tumor (MSC1) or anti-inflammatory (MSC2) phenotypes. Thus, beginning with the favorable safety profile of naïve MSCs and their appreciable anti-inflammatory properties, STaRT 32 involves stimulation of Toll-Like Receptor 3 [TLR3] within MSCs to create MSC2s - a uniform, more potent population of cells with enhanced immunomodulatory properties. Conversely, STaRT 41 involves stimulation of TLR4 to create MSC1s, a new cancer immunotherapy that safely re-awakens both innate and adaptive immune responses.