We are a venture-backed startup developing first-in-class predictive biomarker tests to harness low-toxicity, FDA-approved, repurposed antifibrotic drugs to prevent cancer metastasis.
MeCo Diagnostics traces its origins to the oldest observation in cancer biology: tumors often grow stiffer than surrounding tissue, leading to a palpable lump, which is the most common indicator of disease.
Not all cancer cells are responsive to increased stiffness of their microenvironment, but those that are become “mechanically conditioned,” akin to deadly, microscopic wind-up machines that are destined to wreak havoc as they spread throughout the body.
Mechanical conditioning as a problem dictates mechanical deconditioning as a solution; fortunately, there are FDA-approved antifibrotic drugs can be repurposed for this need. This serendipity has empowered us to develop a biomarker-enabled drug repurposing approach that synergizes with conventional neoadjuvant treatments.
Patients who are candidates for antifibrotic therapy are stratified using AI-optimized, NGS-based predictive biomarkers developed via reverse translational research—from bedside to bench.
Ultimately, we aim to reduce breast and prostate cancer burden in patients before surgery, leading to higher rates of lifelong remission.
Since we are leveraging generic-emergent drugs, the cost of antifibrotic therapy will soon be >10X cheaper than any other targeted therapy for cancer in development.
Since the value of predictive biomarker tests is inversely proportional to the cost of their associated therapies, harnessing generics benefits all stakeholders: patients, payers, and our shareholders.
To learn more about our team, our technology, or our current fundraising round, please contact us.
To reveal the power of mechanical conditioning, we filmed breast cancer cells that had low mechanical conditioning (left) or high mechanical conditioning (right).
These time-lapse movies show the resulting cancer cell clusters growing in 3D collagen.
Antifibrotic therapy prevents the cells on the left from becoming the cells on the right...
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