Our Technologies

Speratum is developing innovative, breakthrough science for the treatment of cancer and other diseases.

Along the way, we created a platform technology that has the potential to create a new class medicines-truly safe and effective.

The science of microRNA replacement

Our cells naturally produce small molecules called miRNAs. Some microRNAs act as natural tumor suppressors–that is, they regulate cell functions like growth and migration, keeping them in check. In tumors, these suppressive microRNAs often disappear–leading to the aggressiveness of  cancer.

The idea behind miRNA replacement is therefore to introduce the missing molecules into the tumor cells, restoring cellular functions, and re-establishing the dynamic balance of the cells.

We have identified miR-198, a specific miRNA molecule that acts as a central tumor suppressor in several cancers. Under normal cell conditions, miR-198 works as part of a molecular on/off switch that regulates cell growth and wound healing. In most tumors miR-198 is depleted, which allows the cells to grow rapidly and migrate aggressively, leading to unchecked cancer growth.

Our mission, therefore, is to synthesize different miRNAs, like miR-198, in the laboratory, and introduce them into tumor cells where they are missing in order to stop cancer in its tracks.

Traditional, targeted cancer therapies generally find one promising therapeutic target, and only cells where that target plays a key role will be impacted. MiRNAs, on the other hand, have the potential to target hundreds of different factors involved in cancer, all at once, making them a very promising potential class of drugs.

Read more about microRNA

For the past two decades, the field of miRNA replacement therapy has been one filled with promise, but also limitations. We face two major hurdles as both a company and any industry.

  • How to design a specific and stable enough molecule that mimics the desired functions of the natural miRNA, but without unwanted effects?
  • How to get these powerful therapeutics (mimics) into the body safely, and in doses large enough to have a strong effect against cancer?

We have developed different effective miRNA mimic designs.

Our mimics are potent, stable, and effective molecules for the therapeutic replacement of miRNAs. They have shown robust processing and efficacy without side effects in a wide range of dosing.

We are currently testing half a dozen potential candidate molecules involved in various cancer signaling mechanisms.

We have engineered the Nano-in technology.

At heart, Speratum is a drug delivery company--we've engineered a revolutionary new polymer for safe and effective therapeutic delivery of nucleic acids.

Nano-in electrostatically interacts with nucleic acids to form functional nanoparticles, protecting them as they travel through the bloodstream and, delivering the payloads systemically or through specific targeting to tumor cells that express specific receptors on their surface.