Immunotherapy
The immune system is a potent and tightly regulated process
The human immune system has evolved into a potent instrument to fight disease and foreign pathogens. It must, however, maintain an exquisite balance between eliminating pathogens and disease while sparing normal tissues. The immune system accomplishes this via a series of inhibitory receptors designed to limit unwanted immune responses. Unfortunately, these limiting inhibitory mechanisms can be utilized by cancer cells to evade immune recognition. Conversely, when these limiting inhibitory mechanisms fail, autoimmune/inflammatory disease is the result.
Fortunately, knowledge of the immune system is more advanced than ever. 2010 saw the approval of the world’s first active immunotherapy, designed to train the body’s immune system to fight prostate cancer. New immunotherapies to fight several of the most serious forms of cancer have followed – with more FDA approvals in the pipeline. Despite all this progress, medical science remains at the beginning edge of enabling the human immune system to eliminate cancer.
At Alpine Immune Sciences, we are seeking to apply our variant Ig domain (vIgD) technology to bring innovative potential new therapies to people living with cancer and autoimmune/inflammatory disease. We believe engineering native immune system proteins to improve their functionality could generate a novel class of protein therapeutics holding the key to optimally controlling the power of the immune system. Our discovery platform and translational expertise represent a scientifically and clinically unique approach with the potential to generate modern, effective, and affordable immunotherapies.