TippingPoint Biosciences, a therapeutic company focused on innovative drug discovery targeting the aberrant DNA in cancer cells, announced pre-seed investment from the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, Sontag Foundation, Yuvaan Tiwari Foundation, and BrightEdge, the impact investment and venture capital arm of the American Cancer Society.
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The investments will support TippingPoint’s breakthrough work to target Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a rare pediatric brainstem tumor that is untreatable and terminal, usually within months of diagnosis. TippingPoint’s novel drug discovery platform is the first to target disease-specific interfaces in DNA packaging networks in cancer cells, also known as chromatin states, without affecting healthy states.
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Current approaches to address DNA packaging dysfunction target single chromatin factors that have broad functions across both disease and healthy cells, which leads to unwanted toxicities. Because TippingPoint’s platform is able to specifically target the unique chromatin interactions in disease, they have successfully applied their technology to target DIPG cancer cells in the laboratory, which cancer researchers regard as a significant breakthrough.
“We are committed to accelerating breakthrough treatments for DIPG and other fatal pediatric brain tumors,” said Parvati Tiwari, President and Co-Founder of the Yuvaan Tiwari Foundation. “TippingPoint Biosciences’s innovative approach to targeting complex chromatin interactions offers real hope for new therapies. We’re proud to back their efforts to transform the future of DIPG treatment.”
“We are proud to support the work being done by Tipping Point to further the American Cancer Society’s mission to end cancer as we know it for everyone, said Alice Pomponio, VP, Innovation & Impact Investing / Managing Director, BrightEdge. It has been a privilege to support their journey from the beginning to where they are today, and we look forward to seeing a DIPG treatment benefit people with cancer in the future.”
The Sontag Innovation Fund, building on the reputation of the Sontag Foundation as one of the largest private funders of brain tumor research in North America, is thrilled with being part of TippingPoint Biosciences’s efforts. “We are excited to help support TippingPoint and their effort to use an innovative screening platform to identify new potential therapeutic options for DIPG and other diseases” said Scott Davis, Managing Director of the Sontag Innovation Fund.
TippingPoint Bioscience’s founder, Dr. Laura Hsieh, formerly a post-doctoral researcher in Dr. Geeta Narlikar’s lab at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), left the university to launch TippingPoint and accelerate the development of cancer therapeutics. TippingPoint raised its first investments in 2023, from early stage ventures like Mission BioCapital, ACS BrightEdge and SOSV’s IndieBio, and won four golden or platinum ticket awards in pitch competitions sponsored by major pharmaceutical companies including ONO Pharma, Astellas, and Abbvie.
Dr. Hsieh and the TippingPoint Biosciences team are currently conducting hit-to-lead studies to develop a new class of molecules for DIPG that are highly specific to the disease. They are diligently working to increase the potency and selectivity of their molecules so they can test them in mouse models in the near term with an eye on reaching first-in-human studies for DIPG patients in 4 years.
“We are honored to receive these investments to further our drug development efforts for such a devastating disease like DIPG. In order to make significant breakthroughs in complex diseases like DIPG and really make a difference in patient lives, big bets need to be made on paradigm-shifting technologies like ours. The support in capital, expertise and networks with patient advocates and world-class researchers goes a long way for TippingPoint to continue development of much-needed therapeutics for DIPG and other complex diseases,” said Dr. Laura Hsieh, CEO and Founder of TippingPoint Biosciences.
About TippingPoint Biosciences
Launched in 2023, TippingPoint Biosciences is an SF-based therapeutic company with a mission to improve and save the lives of patients who suffer from diseases with high unmet needs. Co-founded by Dr. Laura Hsieh, and Dr. Geeta J. Narlikar, TippingPoint Biosciences has built a new type of drug discovery platform to identify treatments for diseases caused by defects in DNA packaging, which include several hard-to-treat cancers. TippingPoint’s proprietary platform addresses major limitations and challenges seen in the healthcare space by recreating the biological context of cancer-driving chromatin states in a controlled, cell-free environment.
Rather than targeting a single factor, TippingPoint’s platform focuses on disrupting or restoring the unique protein-protein and protein-DNA networks that package cell genomes. Unlike individual factors that may have similar functions in both healthy and diseased cells, the DNA packaging networks in cancer cells are significantly different, and can be exploited to enhance drug specificity and limit drug resistance.
