Triangle Therapeutics

Triangle Therapeutics strives to bring breakthrough technology to the clinic that blocks metastasis and thereby significantly enhancing success rates of first-line cancer treatments for patients suffering from metastatic cancers. Today most cancer patients are treated by a combination of therapies including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immune therapy. All these are directed at shrinking or removal of the primary tumour and no therapies exist that halt or block metastasis. Whilst metastasis is a hallmark of most of the aggressive cancers: most cancer deaths are the result of metastasis, and not of the primary tumour. Triangle Therapeutics has developed a unique technology that efficiently and selectively inhibits heparanase, a key factor enabling tumour metastasis, irrespective of the nature of the primary tumour. We have achieved proof of concept in three in vivo metastasis models. The Triangle Therapeutic lead acts synergistic to the established anticancer drug, bortezomib, and has unique drug-like properties far superior to the current best-in-class compounds. For our first indication we have chosen pancreatic cancer, a highly aggressive metastatic cancer for which no satisfying treatment options exist. To achieve this goal, Triangle Therapeutics will obtain an exclusive license to the unique technology from Leiden University. Triangle Therapeutics is created by Vincent Lit and Gijs Ruijgrok, who during their PhD research developed the lead heparanase inhibitor, together with Herman Overkleeft, who has considerable expertise in clinical development with one compound (www.azafaros.com) now in phase II clinical studies. The team is supported by expert clinical advisors and experts in heparanase targeting drug development, and in the course of 2024 will be expanded by biotech business development experts.