First-in-class monoclonal antibody agonist programme for inflammation resolution with broad applicability across major chronic inflammatory diseases
Evolution of Nucleome's non-coding genetics platform reveals further groundbreaking insights into disease areas of high unmet need
OXFORD, England, 07 January 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Nucleome Therapeutics ('Nucleome' or 'the Company'), a company tackling the molecular causes of inflammatory diseases through a breakthrough approach to 3D human genetics, provides an R&D update following the nomination of a preclinical development candidate for its lead first-in-class programme, NTP464. The programme will progress towards IND enabling studies from its discovery platform.
Dr. Mark Bodmer, CEO of Nucleome, said:"2025 marked a year of great progress for Nucleome, both for our genetics discovery technology and pipeline. Our lab-based technology, Micro Capture-C (MCC), combined with strategic deployment of machine learning and other computational methods has advanced genetics to an unprecedented level by deciphering patterns of gene regulation from the 3D architecture of the genome. This has redefined what genetic variation can reveal about disease, for both drug target discovery and stratification of patient populations.
"We have created the most comprehensive physical map of molecular mechanisms in inflammatory disease and continue to enhance this with emerging data. This means we can now uncover causal drivers of disease in humans, in areas of the greatest unmet patient need. The nomination of our first development candidate, NTP464, is a major step forward for Nucleome and is a powerful example of what is possible when our cutting-edge platform intersects with therapeutic design."
NTP464 candidate nomination
The target of NTP464 is a novel inflammation checkpoint identified using Nucleome's proprietary suite of genetic approaches. Through understanding how genetic variation in patients suffering from autoimmune disease impacts the physical 3D interactions with protein-coding genes, Nucleome has uncovered a profound multi-cellular orchestrator of inflammation resolution with potential to move beyond current advanced therapeutics. The core mechanism of the target that acts to resolve inflammation in healthy individuals becomes dysregulated in patients with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
The novel monoclonal agonist antibody nominated as preclinical development candidate has excellent potency, selectivity and developability characteristics. NTP464 has demonstrated efficacy in multiple preclinical in vitro assays, including a compelling combination of inhibiting B cell, T cell and macrophage activation and promoting Treg suppressive activities. The programme offers a new principle in the treatment of inflammatory diseases and will now progress towards IND enabling studies.
World leading innovation in non-coding genetics
Significant advances in both the experimental and computational arms of Nucleome's proprietary technology have resulted in a leap in capabilities: interactions between the promotors of every gene in the genome and all their regulatory elements can now be measured to base-pair precision in a single experiment.
The Company's application of this technology to inflammatory diseases has resulted in a precise and comprehensive atlas of the molecular drivers of these diseases, informed by human non-coding genetics. This type of insight into gene regulation has historically remained elusive. Through analysing this proprietary data, Nucleome has built a methodology that enables prioritisation of target-indication pairs based on predicted probability of clinical success. Amongst a large number of novel targets, the Company also identified the targets of successfully marketed drugs, providing retrospective evidence based on known clinical outcomes that this new approach is relevant to treatment of disease. The novel targets drawn from this atlas that meet Nucleome's high thresholds of genetic support, are predicted to be significantly more likely to be clinically successful than those without such genetic support.
Nucleome is mining this proprietary atlas to build a pipeline of first-in-class genetically identified targets as well as revealing mechanistically defined patient subgroups within and across multiple inflammatory disease indications. Nucleome's core principle is that human genetics unlocks the key to the development of more successful therapies - linking the right target to the right patient via the right mechanism.
Protecting Nucleome's innovation
Nucleome's proprietary technology is covered by a robust and extensive patent portfolio that protects the value of its uniquely innovative platform in commercially relevant markets. Several new patents granted in 2025 protect MCC and Nucleome's proprietary 'Variant Functional Validation' (VFV) technologies. New patent applications are continuously considered and filed to protect advances in technology and compositions of matter for the Company's drug candidates.
Notes to Editors
About Nucleome Therapeutics
Nucleome is an immunology company tackling the root causes of disease through a revolutionary new approach to solving human genetics. Nucleome has a deep molecular understanding of the function and importance of the non-coding genome and how variation within it causes disease. The Company has created transformative 3D genomics technology to link disease-associated genetic variants with the genes they dysregulate in disease. At the core of this, is the ability to read 3D interactions in the non-coding genome with a precision and scale that is unique in both industry and academia.
Nucleome is the first company to build at scale a rich data atlas of immune system dysregulation identified from human disease genetics, allowing it to elucidate the mechanistic basis of disease, identify hundreds of novel targets and group patients by their common, mechanistic disease drivers. The Company is building a pipeline of genetically identified therapeutics to restore health in inflammatory diseases, with lead programme, NTP464, in pre-clinical development.
Nucleome is backed by a world-class syndicate of investors: M Ventures, the venture capital arm of Merck KGaA; Johnson and Johnson Innovation - JJDC, Inc. ("JJDC"); Pfizer Ventures; British Business Bank and founding investor Oxford Science Enterprises. Visit the website to find out more at: www.nucleome.com
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