The activity of many proteins is controlled through phosphorylation by kinases and dephosphorylation by phosphatases. Overactive kinases are one of the major drivers of tumors and, as a result, kinase inhibitors are a mainstay of oncology drug development. But “activation of the brakes, the phosphatases, could be equally therapeutically viable for the treatment of a broad range of cancers” to kinase inhibition, Goutham Narla told the audience at the 2020 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting.

Seattle-based Neoleukin Therapeutics Inc. is targeting the end of 2020 for an IND submission related to prospective cancer immunotherapy NL-201, described as an engineered, hyperstable agonist of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and IL-15. It’s meant to eliminate alpha receptor binding and thereby overcome the problems with native IL-2.