Halda: making targeted tumor killing harder to resist via RIPTACs

By developing modular small molecules that decouple tumor targeting from tumor killing, Halda Therapeutics Inc. thinks it can avoid the resistance that frequently follows therapies targeting oncogenic drivers. The four year old company emerged from stealth Tuesday ahead of a presentation at ASCO GU this week.

Overexpressed proteins that drive tumor growth are naturally attractive targets for drug developers, but “tumors are heterogeneous, and find ways to become resistant,” to oncogenic driver-targeted therapies by losing their dependence on that pathway, Halda co-founder and Yale University professor Craig Crews told BioCentury...