We are a venture-backed startup developing first-in-class predictive biomarker tests to harness high-efficacy + low-toxicity antifibrotic drugs to prevent cancer progression.
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 breast cancer.
Not all cancer cells are responsive to increased stiffness of their tumor microenvironment, but those that are become “mechanically conditioned,” akin to deadly, microscopic machines that are destined to wreak havoc as they invade through tissues and spread throughout the body.
Mechanical conditioning as a problem dictates mechanical deconditioning as a solution. Fortunately, antifibrotic drugs can be utilized to serve as mechanical deconditioning agents. This serendipity has empowered us to develop a biomarker-enabled drug repurposing/repositioning approach that bolsters conventional chemotherapy.
Patients who are good candidates for antifibrotic therapy are identified using our gene expression-based predictive biomarker test, the MeCo Score. This diagnostic test relies upon biopsy tissue that already exists, so most patients don't need to undergo any additional procedure nor visit any hospital/clinic to get a MeCo Score test performed.
Ultimately, our goal is to reduce breast cancer burden in patients before surgery, enabling total removal by their surgeons, thus leading to lifelong remission.
Since we are leveraging a generic-emergent drug as a proof-of-concept, the cost of antifibrotic therapy will soon be >10X cheaper than most other targeted therapies for breast cancer.
The MeCo Score is the first and only clinically validated test that can match patients to this exciting new therapeutic option that can save patients and reduce healthcare costs while simultaneously benefiting our shareholders.
To learn more about our team, our technology, or our current fundraising round, please contact us.
To reveal the influence of mechanical conditioning,
we filmed breast cancer cells with low mechanical conditioning (left)
or high mechanical conditioning (right).
These time-lapse movies show these cancer cell clusters
growing in 3D collagen for 16 hours.
Antifibrotic therapy prevents the passive cells on the left
from behaving like the invasive, shapeshifting cells on the right
(visibly pulling on collagen fibers to invade).
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