Sandbar Life Sciences

Sandbar Biotherapeutics is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company developing a new class of "tumor-activated" cytokine therapies designed to treat solid tumors while minimizing systemic toxicity. The company’s proprietary platform utilizes a masking technology that keeps potent immune-stimulators inactive in the bloodstream, only becoming active upon reaching the tumor microenvironment through cleavage by tumor-specific proteases. Their lead programs focus on engineered versions of Interleukin-12 (IL-12) and Interleukin-15 (IL-15). By localizing the immune response, Sandbar aims to overcome the historical safety limitations of systemic cytokine administration. The company was founded by leading researchers from the Koch Institute at MIT and is backed by prominent life science investors.