Elara Pharmaceuticals

Dual Mechanism of Action

Elara Pharmaceuticals is developing novel dual mechanism anti-cancer drugs targeting the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) signal transduction pathway and inducing apoptosis.

This hypoxia signaling cascade is triggered once tissue oxygen levels fall below normal, leading to cellular hypoxia.

Hypoxia is a stress factor for cells and tissues and leads to rapid stabilization of a transcription factor that induces the expression of genes enhancing cell survival. Under conditions of normal oxygen supply, it is rapidly degraded. This transcription factor is called hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1α).

HIF promotes the production and release of growth factors required for the growth of new blood vessels such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), proteins controlling glucose metabolism, and others. As a result, the tissue is protected against stress induced apoptosis and allows the formation of new blood vessels. Hypoxia is common in solid tumors as existing blood vessels cannot supply the rapidly growing tumor with sufficient oxygen and nutrients.

The HIF signaling pathway therefore is crucial for the growth of tumors and over-expression of HIF is often associated with an advanced disease stage and poor survival prognosis of cancer patients. ELARA's compounds also induce apoptosis under normoxic conditions which allows us to target the whole tumor.