A potent immune attack against cancers

The currently approved form of recombinant human IL-2 requires high doses that can be toxic and lead to cytokine storms as well as increased risk of pulmonary edema and blood vessel leakage. Newer generation IL-2 mimetics that are not yet approved can also create a negative feedback loop by triggering the secretion of more IL-2, which can lead to the expansion of regulatory T cells that suppress the very immune response the cancer treatment was meant to activate.

Addressing these complexities requires IL-2 regulation, precision and innovation. That’s where Aulos Bioscience comes in.

Solving IL-2 challenges with a highly differentiated monoclonal antibody

Aulos’ lead antibody, AU-007, offers an elegantly simple solution for harnessing the immunotherapeutic power of IL-2. Created by our co-founding partner Biolojic Design, AU-007 is a computationally designed, human IgG1 monoclonal antibody that is highly selective to the CD25-binding portion of IL-2. By attaching itself to the epitope on IL-2 that normally binds to CD25, AU-007 prevents exogenous IL-2 as well as endogenous IL-2 secreted by effector T cells from binding to trimeric receptors on regulatory T cells while still allowing IL-2 to bind and expand effector T cells. This averts the negative feedback loop caused by other IL-2-based treatments. It also stops IL-2 from binding to trimeric receptors on vasculature and pulmonary endothelium, which may significantly reduce the vascular leak syndrome and pulmonary edema associated with high-dose IL-2 therapy.

AU-007’s unique mechanism of action achieves what no other IL-2 therapeutic in development does – tips the balance toward immune activation and away from immune suppression. The result is a potential treatment that we believe will have higher efficacy against solid tumors, lower toxicity and a sustained anti-tumor response.