BioMotiv, a drug development accelerator associated with The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development, in collaboration with researchers from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, have established a new biotech start-up, TamRx, it was reported on Friday.

The new company will concentrate on the development of a novel family of small molecule inhibitors designed to block tumour growth and stimulate the immune system to fight various forms of cancer.

The TamRx technology was produced by scientific founders Ray Birge of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, William Welsh of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Youyi Peng of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and other researchers. The technology blocks ligand (Gas6) binding, thereby inhibiting TAM (Tyro3, Axl, and Mertk)-mediated activation of cellular processes that may lead to aggressive growth and spread of tumours. In addition to blocking tumour growth and metastasis, the pan-TAM inhibitors work as anticancer agents to indirectly promote an anti-tumour immune response. The TamRx technology is expected to work in combination with immuno-oncology therapies, including checkpoint inhibitors, in a wide variety of cancers.