Blending Natural Biology to Design Personal Therapeutics
John Mumm
Founder and CEO, Deka Biosciences
Deka Biosciences has developed a new class of tri-specific fusion protein that couples any two cytokines together (either dimeric + monomeric, or dimeric + dimeric) onto a scaffolding that enables the cytokines to be targeted and enriched in diseased tissue. Deka has dubbed these tri-specific fusion proteins DiakinesTM. Our lead molecule, known as DK210 (EGFR), couples wild type IL-2 to a high affinity form of IL-10, which utterly detoxifies IL-2. DK210 (EGFR) blends IL-10’s natural anti-inflammatory function and CD8+ T cell stimulatory function to both suppress IL-2 mediated cytokine release syndrome, thereby reducing toxicity; and enhances the stimulatory effects on CD8+ T cells. DK210 (EGFR) also binds with sufficient affinity to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) to enrich in tumors and enhances the avidity of T cells for tumor target cells. The resultant molecule exhibits potent anti-tumor function in mice, blocks toxic inflammation in non-human primates at up to 1 mg/kgs dosed three times a week, and blocks IL-2 mediated induction of Treg proliferation at therapeutic doses.
After earning his Bachelor’s Degree from Menlo College, John received a MS from Stanford University and both a MS and PhD from MD Anderson Cancer Center where he discovered that IL-10 directly activates anti-tumor CD8+ T cells. John conducted post-doctoral work for a year at DNAX Research Institute and became a Scientist at Schering Plough where he developed PEGylated IL-10 (AM0010) as an immunoncology asset. He then founded Targenics, later merged with ARMO Biosciences (briefly a publicly traded company), to clinically develop AM0010 and other immune oncology assets. ARMO Biosciences was acquired by Eli Lilly in 2018 for a $1.6B up front deal. As a founder and Senior Director of Technical Operations at ARMO, John led the manufacturing and pre-clinical research teams.
John served as the Director of Immunoncology R&D at Medimmune LLC and is the author of 28 manuscripts and 52 granted or pending patents. After reviewing the immunoncology space for two years at MedImmune and developing such diverse projects as innate and T cell agonists, CART and other cell therapy projects as well as novel immunostimulatory antibody drug conjugates, John has most recently founded Deka Biosciences. Deka is the next generation cytokine development company created to solve the challenges associated with harnessing the massive potential of cytokine therapy. With the challenges in developing T cell agonists and cell therapy programs, it is likely that cytokine combinations coupled with targeting modalities administered in conjunction with precision patient selection will be clear value drivers for the pharmaceutical industry for years to come.