{"id":78838,"title":"🎯🦠  Granza Bio – Cancer targeting attack particles derived from our body’s immune system","tagline":"We engineer \"attack particles\" that selectively target and kill cancer cells, eliminating unwanted side effects and toxicity.","body":"**Tl;dr:** We are [Granza Bio](https://www.linkedin.com/company/granza-bio-yc-w24/), two PhD graduates in Oncology and Immunology from the University of Oxford on a mission to develop personalised and targeted cancer treatments. We are working on a new weapon in our immune system’s arsenal – “[**attack particles**](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aay9207)”. We are turning this concept into a therapeutic product that can eliminate any cancer without harming the surrounding healthy cells, preventing adverse side effects.\n\nHey everyone, we are (Ashwin)²\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=78838\u0026key=user_uploads/1718918/c608a07f-d480-40c7-bb19-16fc620b9666)\n\n# **Team**\n\n🧑🏾[Ashwin Jainarayanan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jainarayananak/) – Clarendon Scholar and Synthetic Immunologist with extensive research experience on attack particles derived from immune cells.\n\n 🧑🏾[Ashwin Nandakumar](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashwin-nandakumar-menon/) – Cancer biologist specializing in immuno-oncology, who has previously set up clinical trials and brings extensive Oncology start-up experience.\n\n👨🏻‍🔬 [Mike Dustin](https://www.kennedy.ox.ac.uk/team/michael-dustin) – Professor of Molecular Immunology at the University of Oxford. Widely recognised for his work on immunological synapses and discovered attack particles.\n\n# **❌ Problem:**\n\n\\~50% of cancer patients receive treatments that are (1) ineffective and (2) lead to unwanted and avoidable side effects.\n\n**(1) _High mortality rates:_** Ineffective treatments lead to cancer relapse and ultimately, increased likelihood of dying from cancer. Five-year survival rates are lower than 5% for patients with late-stage cancers including lung, pancreas, and brain cancer.\n\n**(2) _Toxicity and adverse side effects_**: While emerging treatments such as immunotherapy and CAR-T cell therapy are effective in some patients, they also impact their healthy tissues. This causes high toxicity and adverse side effects.\n\n# **✅ Solution: Granza Bio’s cancer-targeting attack particles**\n\nWe have identified **attack particles** ⚡: a powerful suite of weapons in our immune system’s arsenal. These attack particles carry proteins like **_granzymes_** and **_perforins_** that instantly kill cancer cells.\n\n[Watch how it works!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5IPz1YaAiE\u0026ab_channel=AshwinMenon)\n\n# **📋 Factfile: Granza Bio’s attack particles**\n\n* **💀 High cancer-killing efficacy** in brain, ovarian, lung, and skin cancers.\n* ⚙ Engineered to target **only the cancer cells**, leaving the surrounding healthy cells untouched, meaning no toxicity or adverse side effects.\n* 🧠 Capable of targeting **brain cancers** by crossing the blood-brain barrier.\n* **🎯** Perfectly suited to a **platform approach** meaning we can use attack particles to target a great range of diseases including cancers, autoimmune diseases, and infections.\n* 🏭 **Highly stable** and easy to manufacture.\n\n**Lock \u0026 Key method – attack particle targeting cancer**\n\n# \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=78838\u0026key=user_uploads/1718918/0fcc26f3-2645-4d78-aee9-8287c2e707c2)\n\n# **🙏 Our Asks:**\n\n* Share this post with your network and help spread the word!\n* If you’re as excited as we are about this novel approach to eradicating cancer and would like to learn more about what we’re doing, email us at [founders@granzabio.com](mailto:founders@granzabio.com)","slug":"KVa-granza-bio-cancer-targeting-attack-particles-derived-from-our-body-s-immune-system","created_at":"2024-02-28T01:19:33.419Z","updated_at":"2026-05-25T01:15:47.825Z","total_vote_count":762,"url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/KVa-granza-bio-cancer-targeting-attack-particles-derived-from-our-body-s-immune-system","share_image_url":"//bookface-static.ycombinator.com/assets/ycdc/yc-og-image-c440a0ad1dacfb86eeeb343717479cc54d256614449b4ef719977a0a451f8bc8.png","company":{"id":29485,"name":"Granza Bio","slug":"granza-bio","url":"https://www.granzabio.com/","logo":"https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e4fe5f43800f16c0ca16303f58b955037e3f2bc1.png","batch":"Winter 2024","industry":"Healthcare","tags":["Synthetic Biology","Biotech","Healthcare","Therapeutics","Oncology"],"search_path":"https://bookface.ycombinator.com/company/29485"}}