Making transcription factors druggable
QUANTRO defines a new state of the art in transcriptomics. Using metabolic labelling, our proprietary time-resolved transcriptomic technology precisely determines changes in transcriptional dynamics for any gene, at any time, making transcription visible and measurable.
The problem
Transcription factors are difficult to drug because their function is hard to measure
Biophysical binding assays may show target engagement but cannot determine a transcription factor’s functional response. Reporter assays and RNA-seq are too slow to capture the immediate transcriptional response, so results are confounded by secondary pathway signalling.
QUANTRO measures nascent RNA synthesis within 1–2 hours of treatment, capturing the direct transcriptional response before downstream biology obscures it and revealing functional effects that conventional methods can miss.
The QUANTRO approach
Function first: connecting target biology directly with transcriptomic drug discovery
Using degron engineering and auxin-induced target degradation, combined with time-resolved transcriptomics, QUANTRO measures the immediate transcriptional response to target loss, generating a distinct target-specific “fingerprint”. This fingerprint represents the functional search profile to identify compounds that reproduce the desired effect of target elimination.
Our pipeline
Programmes built from functionally validated screens
QUANTRO advances internal and partnered programmes only after compounds reproduce the target-specific transcriptional response.
Pipeline chart, 4 programmes against a five-stage scale running from target and assay through hit discovery, hit validation, hit-to-lead and lead optimisation. Hippo pathway, YAP/TEAD, Lead programme: Hit-to-lead. MYC, Priority programme: Hit validation. Boehringer Ingelheim collaboration, Selected oncology targets: Hit validation. Pipeline expansion, Additional transcriptional targets: Assay development.
Functionally validated TEAD inhibitors advancing through hit-to-lead optimisation
QUANTRO has built a proprietary, functionally validated hit library of potent, selective TEAD inhibitors. The most advanced hit clusters are progressing through hit-to-lead optimisation, including covalent TEAD inhibitors with binding to TEAD1 confirmed by co-crystal structure.
Proprietary, functionally validated hit library
QUANTRO has created a proprietary library of MYC hits functionally validated by SLAMseq® and confirmed across the full transcriptome. The hits produce a clean, selective effect on the MYC transcriptional fingerprint and include a mechanistically novel series. Further hit generation and validation are ongoing.
Active under the Boehringer Ingelheim collaboration
New targets in oncology, autoimmunity and inflammation
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