Telo Therapeutics enters into an Oncology-focused research collaboration with GSK

gsk-logoSan Francisco, CA, Feb 2, 2017 – QB3@953, the Bay Area’s premier life science incubator, today announced the collaboration between one of its member companies, Telo Therapeutics, and one of its sponsor companies, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Telo Therapeutics is a start-up biotechnology company co-founded by Joe Costello, PhD, UCSF Professor of Neurological Surgery, and Robert Bell, PhD, a former post doc in Dr. Costello’s lab. GSK’s Discovery Partnerships with Academia (DPAc) group recently extended its 2015 collaboration agreement with QB3@953, and has now formed a collaboration with Telo Therapeutics to develop a novel precision medicine with the aim to reverse cancer cell immortality.

“We’re delighted to collaborate with GSK because of their extensive chemistry resources and drug development expertise,” said Dr. Costello.

“This collaboration is a tremendous step forward for Telo, and it will accelerate our development timeline towards patient trials faster than would be possible alone,” added Dr. Bell, now CEO of Telo Therapeutics.

“Telo is exactly the type of innovative target concept that we were hoping to see through our collaboration with QB3@953,” said Carolyn Buser-Doepner, Head of the GSK DPAc team. “The principal scientists and their innovative, early target concept are an excellent fit for the DPAc model.”

Telo first became a member of QB3@953 and then a collaborator with GSK’s DPAc team as well as the recipient of GSK’s “golden ticket” lab bench at QB3@953. The “golden ticket” is provided by QB3@953 to allow sponsor companies to select a promising Bay Area biotech company of their choice to allocate use of state-of-the-art research equipment and lab space granted to partners of QB3@953. As a “golden ticket” company, Telo Therapeutics will have access to GSK’s allocated space and equipment for one year while the two companies work together to perform a series of small molecule screens. If promising drug candidates are identified through this collaboration, a longer multi-year partnership between the parties could be established to advance the drug to the clinic.

”The formation of the collaboration between Telo Therapeutics and GSK is a great example of how QB3@953 serves as a launch pad to pair local researchers possessing great science and entrepreneurial aspirations with partner resources necessary to advance innovative programs within new companies,” said Doug Crawford, QB3@953 Managing Director.

About QB3@953
QB3@953 is San Francisco’s leading biotech incubator. Its fully equipped laboratories are available to entrepreneurs one bench at a time, allowing enterprising researchers to greatly accelerate their R&D and substantially lower their capital requirements. The incubator’s 24,000 square foot lab and office building is home to 40 of the Bay Area’s most promising biotech startups. QB3@953 provides state-of-the-art facilities, including a core facility with $1.5 million in equipment, administrative support, skilled laboratory technicians, seminars, and a terrific community of entrepreneurial scientists. In addition, startups have access to Mission Bay Capital, a venture firm focused on making pivotal, early-stage investments in bioscience companies. Together, these resources enable fledgling companies to reach critical milestones faster while lowering the capital barriers many startups face.

About Telo Therapeutics
Telo Therapeutics, Inc. is developing a novel, personalized medicine therapeutic to selectively inhibit cancer cell immortality. All cancer cells undergo a process called immortalization, and the majority of cancers achieve this by turning on an enzyme called telomerase. Telomerase is a validated clinical target, yet existing inhibitors are toxic to the body’s normal cells and have so far failed to make it to market. We are developing a novel therapeutic that will reverse immortality specifically in cancer cells and leave healthy cells intact. Telo Therapeutics is based in San Francisco, in the QB3@953 incubator.

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MEDIA CONTACTS
Douglas Crawford, General Manager
Ph: 415-205-4825
Douglas.Crawford@qb3at953.com