A Blawg About a Dawg

Jul 16, 2024

Why is the word “blog” spelled like “blawg” in the title?

For the Aw! factor.

Dogs, or rather, dawgs, are awesome.

Some would say pawsome. 😁

And cute! So cute! Yes, they are! Aren’t you, boy? (Petting one right now).

Look at this bloodhound below and tell us he isn’t the absolute cutest. Just adorbs!

See, AW!

Much less cute, but still a bloodhound – of sorts anyway – is lead EpicentRx therapy, AdAPT-001. It sniffs out tumors, wherever they are hiding, or not hiding (as the case may be) and leads the immune system on a chase against them like a bloodhound that leads the police to the hideout of a criminal perpetrator.

Bloodhounds aka “slobberhounds” are intensely sialorrheic, (see GIF at the top of this post) meaning that they produce a ton of saliva kind of like how AdAPT-001 overexpresses a transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) trap that binds to and neutralizes the ubiquitous pro-tumor cytokine, TGF-β.

Instead of olfactory receptors, which bind scent molecules, AdAPT-001 uses an attachment receptor that protrudes from its surface to bind to and enter cancer cells.

Once inside, it massively replicates, releasing viral progeny, antigens, and danger signals in one big burst.

The combination of AdAPT-001 plus a checkpoint inhibitor – this is an antibody that releases the brakes on the immune system – are signals for the immune system to go on the attack against tumors wherever they are in the body.

It is a tall order to bring metastatic tumors – excuse the pun – to heel.

This puts AdAPT-001 in a familiar position.

As an underdog.