TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals is a privately held biopharmaceutical company that discovers and develops small molecule drugs that modulate programmed cell death pathways to treat debilitating diseases and conditions. The company’s Smac Mimetics neutralize critical blocks in the apoptosis pathway to selectively destroy cancer cells.  Its Necrostatin drugs block critical steps in the process leading to necrosis, enabling cell survival in a wide range of diseases and injuries where necrosis is a critical component of pathology.

Programmed cell death is classified into categories with two of the most important being apoptosis and necroptosis.  Apoptosis is a well characterized highly regulated programmed cell death process activated via death receptors (Extrinsic Pathway) or by internal cell stress signals (Intrinsic Pathway). During the past decade necrosis was also determined to occur in an organized and regulated pathway, called necroptosis, enabling discovery of drugs that inhibit necrosis.  TetraLogic has acquired and developed important intellectual property and capabilities that enable targeted discovery and development of drugs that modulate both pathways. 

Apoptosis Program –Smac Mimetics

The role of apoptosis is to eliminate abnormal or obsolete cells from the body enabling them to be replaced by normal, fully functional cells. The function of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins which block cell death at the terminus of the apoptosis pathway is to prevent aberrant apoptosis from eliminating normal cells. In cancer cells, however, inhibitor of apoptosis proteins block apoptosis that has been appropriately triggered by innate responses or cancer therapies enabling the cancer cells to survive and proliferate. TetraLogic’s small molecule Smac Mimetics neutralize the effects of Inhibitors of Apoptosis Proteins (IAPs) enabling the cancer cells to be destroyed. TetraLogic’s lead Smac Mimetic drug candidate, TL32711 will enter human clinical trials during 2009.

Necrosis Program - Necrostatins

Necrotic cell death is a major component of the pathology of many debilitating conditions including neurological injuries, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular injuries, major organ failure, pathogenic infections and ophthalmic diseases and injuries. Over the past decade a pathway of programmed necrosis, called necroptosis was characterized and drug targets identified, enabling targeted drug discovery of small molecules, called Necrostatins that block necrosis. TetraLogic’s lead Necrostatin drug candidate is being advanced into IND enabling studies and will enter clinical development during 2010.

TetraLogic established operations in Malvern, Pennsylvania (suburban Philadelphia) in 2004. It has built an experienced management team and proven small molecule drug discovery capabilities. The company’s Board of Directors is comprised of leading venture capitalists and heads of leading academic science and medical institutions, and its founding scientists, advisors and collaborators are recognized leaders in their respective fields.