AEBi's own drug discovery
MuTaTo: a multi-targeted approach to cancer.
One drug, several targets on the same cell — designed so that resistance cannot arise from a single mutation. It is a published concept, built on 25 years of peptide platform work, and it is still in research.
Read the published paperThe concept
Why one target has never been enough.
Cancer is not a single disease with a single lock. Cells differ between patients, between tumours in one patient, and within a single tumour. A therapy that engages one receptor leaves the rest of that variation intact.
The MuTaTo concept starts from a different assumption: assume the tumour will escape, and design against that. Instead of one targeting moiety, attach several — different peptides that each recognise a different cell-surface feature — to a single toxin payload.
Because the same molecule engages several targets, a cell would need to lose all of them at once to survive. That is a far harder problem than mutating one receptor, and it is the core of AEBi's therapeutic hypothesis.
Peptides are the enabler. They are small, chemically synthesizable, and — crucially for this design — can be selected against almost any defined protein target using SoAP.
How the design works
Three moving parts.
Resistance comes from single targets
A drug aimed at one receptor gives a tumour a single problem to solve. A mutation in that receptor, or a shift in expression, is often enough for the cancer to continue growing.
Attack several at once
MuTaTo — Multi-Target Toxin — conjugates more than one targeting moiety to a toxin, so the same cancer cell is engaged at several points simultaneously. Escape requires several simultaneous changes.
The targeting comes from SoAP
Each targeting peptide is identified by AEBi's own screening platform, so the service activity and the therapeutic programme rest on one technology.
Published science
A concept in the literature, open to scrutiny.
The multi-targeted toxin approach was published in an open-access journal. The primary text is the appropriate reference.
Research status — please read
- There is no clinical trial of MuTaTo at present, in Israel or anywhere else.
- AEBi's team are research scientists (Ph.D.). They are not physicians and do not hold the title "Dr." in a clinical sense.
- AEBi operates no clinic and cannot advise on, treat or refer any individual case.
- The treatment, in any case, would have to be individually adapted to the patient.
- Initial therapeutic targets are lung, colon and head & neck cancers.
AEBi is a small team with a high volume of correspondence. Every initial enquiry is read; a reply cannot be guaranteed.
Programme data
What the programme has measured so far.
Preclinical work on the multi-targeted conjugate spans cell culture and animal models: target engagement, uptake into cells, and accumulation in tumour tissue.
Figures reproduced from AEBi study reports. These are research-stage preclinical observations, not peer-reviewed clinical data, and no conclusion about safety or efficacy in humans may be drawn from them.
The same platform
MuTaTo's targeting peptides derive from SoAP — the platform AEBi also operates for partners.
Collaboration
Scientific enquiries.
AEBi welcomes exchanges with researchers, clinicians and companies working on multi-targeted approaches, and with partners seeking a screening programme on a specific target.
Contact AEBi