Chemotherapy meets
Precision Medicine

Solid-tumor cancers are the highest area of unmet need representing 90% of all adult cancers. Current treatments are ineffective against our lead targets: drug-resistant ovarian, liver, sarcoma, thyroid, renal, and prostate cancers.

THE CHALLENGE

OUR SOLUTION

Califia has developed a novel treatment for solid cancers, emphasizing a more targeted approach compared to traditional chemotherapy.

Our clinical candidate, CAP-0121, is a small molecule DNA damaging agent that uniquely targets cancer cells harboring specific mutations in the Transcription-Coupled Repair (TCR) pathway. This pathway is crucial for DNA repair, and its malfunction in cancer cells presents a clear therapeutic target. Whereas the DNA damage produced by all other agents is recognized and rapidly repaired by the Global Genome Repair (GGR) pathway, the damage produced by CAP-0121 remains hidden from the GGR pathway due to lack of helix distortion. This allows the CAP-0121 DNA damage to persist until the TCR Complex proceeds down the DNA helix and then stalls upon reaching the site of CAP-0121 produced DNA damage. When this occurs, the TCR complex dissociates from the DNA helix, and cancer cells then commit apoptosis (or cellular suicide).

Targeting TCR-deficient cancers allows CAP-0121 to be selective and personalized:

Selective

CAP-0121 shows dramatically higher cell killing in TCR-deficient cancer cells than in normal cells, providing a safety and efficacy profile unique among chemotherapies (normal diploid cells in the human body are unharmed).

Personalized

Using our companion diagnostic, we can identify the most likely patients to respond based on genetic analysis of their tumors (about 20% of solid tumors are TCR-deficient)

We have demonstrated safety and efficacy in multiple preclinical models and species, and superiority over irofulven (first-generation drug). We are currently seeking financing to complete IND-enabling activities and advance CAP-0121 to clinical trials.

We have freshly granted IP; however, we are building on 35 years of research and clinical history.