Micoy Therapeutics is focused on developing novel therapeutics targeting harmful autoantibodies that induce immunodeficiency by inhibiting type I interferons.
Learn MoreOur scientists engineered several first-in-class decoy therapies that show promise in blocking these harmful interferon autoantibodies and restoring normal immune functions. Importantly, our decoy therapies are designed to be inert and therefore safely work without causing devastating side-effects.
Learn MoreAs we age, antibodies that target an individual’s own proteins, also known as autoantibodies, increase and immune responsiveness to foreign pathogens decrease. Some of these autoantibodies block critical immune signaling molecules called type I interferons, making you vulnerable to infection and even cancer.
Anti-interferon autoantibodies can be found in 1-2% of the general population but are more frequent in older adults. Nearly 1 in every 15 individuals over the age of 65 will carry these interferon autoantibodies.
During the pandemic, researchers discovered that nearly 20% of patients who had life-threatening disease or died from COVID-19 had harmful autoantibodies that block crucial proteins called type I interferons. Normally, type I interferons ramp up our antiviral defenses and stop viruses from multiplying and spreading to other tissues.
However, these autoantibodies block your immune response, making you 100 times more likely to end up hospitalized if infected by SARS-CoV-2, influenza, herpes simplex, West Nile virus, cytomegalovirus, varicella-zoster and many more.
Type I interferons are also important in cancer. Many chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatments depend on interferon signaling to activate the immune system and kill tumor cells; however, interferon autoantibodies may work against this process and make anticancer therapies less effective.
Studies linking tumor development and anti-interferon autoantibodies are still ongoing, but their results will have enormous implications for our decoy therapies to help fight cancer by restoring immune response.
Micoy Therapeutics is seeking investors to join us in developing decoy therapies and restore immune function.
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