PORTEFEUILLE

NXI Therapeutics AG (formerly NextImmune AG) is developing a revolutionary therapeutic concept for autoimmune diseases and organ transplantation-associated morbidities. There are over 100 different autoimmune disorders known and together with alloimmune pathologies such as transplant rejection and Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD), these conditions affect over 5% of the entire global population. Patients undergoing organ transplantation or suffering from autoimmune diseases are predominantly treated with “non-selective” immunosuppressants that inhibit the entire immune machinery causing severe side effects including recurrent opportunistic infections and cancers. At NXI Therapeutics, we are developing a novel approach that exploits the biology of coronin 1 to elicit “selective” immunosuppression using compounds termed “Coronin 1 modulators” that have the potential to attenuate auto- and allo-immune responses while preserving the immune responses against the pathogenic infections, thus potentially addressing a huge unmet need in the field of immunosuppression.

Our preliminary studies have identified coronin 1 modulators to be developed into immunosuppressive therapies in the context of autoimmune and alloimmune disease models. To further advance these compounds, we initiated a start-up, NXI Therapeutics AG, as a spin-off from Biozentrum, University of Basel in 2021 for further implementation of their clinical development. Using this InnoBooster funding, we have further advanced the coronin 1 modulators through an optimization program such that it aids in enhancing the therapeutic potency of the initial hits. Our efforts during the first phase of the GRF InnoBooster grant has resulted in identification of metabolically stable compounds in comparison to initial hits. Now in the second phase, we have managed to validate one of our lead compounds in preclinical murine models of alloimmunity and as well in a tumor model, which further strengthen the concept of coronin 1 modulator mediated allo- and auto-immune selective immunosuppression.