Pilatus: Broad reprogramming of the tumor immune microenvironment

Switzerland and Taiwan-based biotech Pilatus is pursuing immunometabolic-based cancer therapies by targeting the lipid uptake of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. By inhibiting a metabolic pathway potentially less prone to compensatory mechanisms, the company may be able to move beyond the failures faced by similar targets including IDO1 and ADORA2A.

Founded in 2022 out of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Pilatus Biosciences S.A. is developing a first-in-class T cell engager PLT012 designed to block long-chain fatty acid transporter CD36. The company’s hypothesis is that blocking CD36 to disrupt lipid metabolism will have the dual effect of inhibiting immunosuppressive cell types, such as regulatory T (Treg) cells and M2 macrophages that thrive on lipid uptake, while at the same time promoting activation of antitumor CD8⁺ T and NK cells that are prone to exhaustion via lipid metabolism...