To overcome the historical issue of oncolytic viruses being sequestered by the liver, Accession re-engineers a human virus so it cannot infect any human cells. Only after this safety step is it re-targeted to infect only cancer cells, ensuring precise delivery and avoiding systemic side effects.
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Previous IL-2 therapies from companies like Nektar and Synthorix broadly targeted beta and gamma receptors, which proved clinically ineffective. Synthakyne represents a strategic shift, designing molecules to selectively target the trimeric alpha-beta-gamma receptor found on potent, antigen-activated T cells, avoiding widespread, toxic stimulation.
To overcome on-target, off-tumor toxicity, LabGenius designs antibodies that act like biological computers. These molecules "sample" the density of target receptors on a cell's surface and are engineered to activate and kill only when a specific threshold is met, distinguishing high-expression cancer cells from low-expression healthy cells.
Create's strategy is not limited to a single cell type. They view success in solid tumors as requiring the programming of all immune cells. Their platform can specifically engineer myeloid cells, T-cells, and NK cells in vivo, orchestrating a coordinated, multi-pronged attack on cancer.
Founder Sean Ainsworth intentionally started his pioneering AAV gene therapy in an ocular setting before any Western approvals existed. Because an intravitreal injection uses a very small vector amount, it provided a significant safety advantage and a manageable way to prove the technology before attempting systemic delivery.
While personalized cancer vaccines require extracting and processing a patient's tumor, Create Medicines' in vivo approach is entirely off-the-shelf. By delivering the programming directly into the body, they enable the patient's own immune system to do the complex, personalized work of attacking the cancer itself.
Accession's second product is a bispecific antibody that binds to all cancer cells. While this would be dangerously toxic if delivered systemically, their targeted virus delivery system ensures it is only produced inside the tumor. This strategy makes previously "undruggable" therapeutic concepts viable.
By targeting the integrin Alpha V Beta 6, found in nearly 100% of patient samples for major carcinomas, Accession simplifies its clinical trials. For its first trial across six indications, the company can enroll "all comers" without the costly and time-consuming step of pre-screening patients for the target.
Voyager CEO Al Sandrock explains their AAV capsids are engineered to be so potent at crossing the blood-brain barrier that doses can be an order of magnitude lower than standard. Crucially, the capsids are also designed to *avoid* the liver, directly addressing the toxicity issues that have plagued the field.
Create Medicines chose LNP-delivered RNA for its in vivo platform to give physicians control. Unlike permanent lentiviral approaches, repeatable dosing allows for adapting to tumor antigen escape and managing durability and safety over time. This flexibility is a core strategic advantage for complex diseases like solid tumors.
Instead of just killing cancer cells, the primary mechanism is to insert a gene that forces the infected cell to produce and secrete a potent drug, like an anti-PD-L1 antibody. This creates a hyper-concentrated therapeutic effect directly in the tumor microenvironment, a concept termed "molecular surgery."