The-10

The-10 is a preclinical-stage recombinant fusion protein nanoparticle developed by Thena Biotech as a cancer therapy booster. It is designed to enhance the efficacy of targeted chemotherapeutics (such as antibody-drug conjugates like T-DXd and IMMU-132) and immunotherapies. The-10 is based on a human H-type ferritin (HFt) nanocage platform that naturally targets CD71 (transferrin receptor 1) overexpressed on tumor cells. The N-terminus of each ferritin monomer is genetically fused to a cleavable matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-2/9) linker, followed by two bioactive peptides (BAPs): a linear version of iRGD (which binds integrin αVβ3/αVβ5 and neuropilin-1) and a linear version of PD-L1Pep-1 (which binds PD-L1). An outer PASE sequence acts as a protective masking shield. In the tumor microenvironment, MMP-2 and MMP-9 cleave the linker, releasing the masking shield and exposing the BAPs to exert local immune checkpoint inhibition and enhance tumor penetration and internalization of co-administered therapeutics.