Realist Pharma

Realist Pharma was a private Canadian biotechnology firm founded in 2015, operating in the immuno-oncology sector. The company focused on developing cell therapies and cancer vaccines designed to leverage a patient's own immune system to fight cancer. Its operations were headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company's core asset was a patented platform technology named ReVax, which employed active immune strategies against various cancers. The mechanism involved using proprietary small molecules to activate gamma delta (γδ) T cells, a type of immune cell, directing them to attack well-known glycolipid tumor markers, specifically Tumor Marker Gangliosides, that are highly expressed in a wide variety of cancer cells.

The development of the ReVax platform and its products was led by Dr. H. Uri Saragovi at the Lady Davis Institute in Montréal. The company's lead candidates demonstrated significant efficacy in preclinical models, showing effectiveness against both primary tumors and metastases in aggressive forms of lung cancer, melanoma, and two types of lymphomas. An advantage of this platform was the potential for low-cost manufacturing and a favorable safety profile, with no toxicity issues observed during extensive preclinical testing. In a key milestone, Realist Pharma entered into a collaboration with the Canadian Glycomics Network (GlycoNet) in September 2017. This partnership provided a $250,000 financial contribution and critical expertise from GlycoNet to scale up the manufacturing of key components for future clinical studies, with GlycoNet receiving an equity stake in return. Mark de Groot served as the Chief Executive Officer. Despite its promising technology and early-stage venture backing, including a seed round in 2016 and another funding stage in 2017, the company ceased operations as of January 1, 2019.

Keywords: immuno-oncology, cancer vaccines, cell therapy, ReVax platform, active immune strategies, gamma delta T cells, glycolipid tumor markers, Tumor Marker Gangliosides, preclinical models, immunotherapy, biotechnology, oncology, Mark de Groot, Dr. H. Uri Saragovi, Lady Davis Institute, Canadian Glycomics Network, Toronto biotech