Our Science
Abscopal Therapeutics is developing precision small-molecule medicines designed to unlock systemic antitumor responses—the “abscopal effect”—by disrupting a critical signaling pathway connecting tumor survival, DNA-damage repair, and immune activation. Our approach aims to convert biologically resistant tumors into more treatment-responsive disease and promote activity beyond the directly treated tumor.
Our lead program is being developed both as a monotherapy and as a combination therapy, where it has the potential to enhance anti-tumor activity, overcome or delay resistance, and extend the benefits of these therapies to a broader population of patients. By combining mechanistically differentiated science with the versatility of small-molecule drug discovery, we aim to create more powerful and durable precision-oncology treatments.
Foundational Publications:
Ye Z, Xu S, Shi Y, Cheng X, Zhang Y, Roy S, Namjoshi S, Longo MA, Link TM, Schlacher K, Peng G, Yu D, Wang B, Tainer JA, Ahmed Z.Nat Commun. 2024 Mar 8;15(1):2132. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-46283-y. PMID: 38459011.
GRB2 enforces homology-directed repair initiation by MRE11.
Ye Z, Xu S, Shi Y, Bacolla A, Syed A, Moiani D, Tsai CL, Shen Q, Peng G, Leonard PG, Jones DE, Wang B, Tainer JA, Ahmed Z.Sci Adv. 2021 Aug 4;7(32):eabe9254. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abe9254. Print 2021 Aug.PMID: 34348893.
Grb2 monomer-dimer equilibrium determines normal versus oncogenic function.
Ahmed Z, Timsah Z, Suen KM, Cook NP, Lee GR 4th, Lin CC, Gagea M, Marti AA, Ladbury JE.Nat Commun. 2015 Jun 24;6:7354. doi: 10.1038/ncomms8354.PMID: 26103942