Sift Biosciences

What it does

Sift is developing first- and best-in-class T-cell modulators that address a critical unmet need in oncology: most solid tumors lack immunogenic targets and remain resistant to current immunotherapies. Sift differentiates by leveraging molecular mimicry—shared genomic sequences between microbes and humans—to design highly immunogenic cancer antigen variants derived from microorganisms. This novel approach activates an otherwise untapped repertoire of pre-existing memory T-cells originally trained against microbial infections. These microbe-reactive T-cells exhibit more robust functionality compared to conventional cancer-specific T-cells. Building upon our oncology proof-of-concept, Sift is also exploring platform applications to selectively expand target-specific regulatory T cells, with the potential to restore immune tolerance in autoimmune diseases. This dual applicability further highlights the transformative potential of our mimicry-based antigen engineering approach.