2026.03.16
source：OnchillesSan Diego-based Onchilles Pharma's neutrophil-derived ELANE pathway agent N17350 targets a universal cancer vulnerability, combining direct tumor killing with immune activation. It is now entering first-in-human trials across solid tumors.
What if a cancer drug could kill tumor cells broadly, leave the immune system intact, and then recruit it as a weapon? That is the biological logic behind the ELANE pathway, a mechanism Lev Becker uncovered not by chasing a single target hypothesis, but by studying fundamental neutrophil biology in patients. The discovery that neutrophil elastase can exploit elevated histone H1 to selectively destroy cancer cells while triggering immunogenic cell death forms the scientific foundation of Onchilles Pharma and its lead program, N17350.
In this episode of the In Vivo podcast, Becker, now CSO, and Court Turner, CEO and co‑founder, discuss the San Diego biotech’s crossing into a pivotal threshold: a US IND clearance, a first‑in‑human Phase I/II study in advanced solid tumors preparing to launch in the US and Australia, and GMP‑manufactured clinical supply ready for deployment. After eight years of what Turner calls “stubborn optimism,” and $40m raised across a series A and A‑1, Onchilles is transitioning from a compelling preclinical story to a company defined by clinical execution.
The conversation covers the mechanistic case for why N17350 is neither traditional chemotherapy nor conventional immunotherapy, but a potential new class of selective cytotoxic.
Becker and Turner discuss why histone H1 functions as a universal tumor vulnerability rather than a conventional patient selection biomarker, how the intratumoral delivery model is shaping the Phase I/II design across melanoma, head and neck cancers, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, non‑small cell lung cancer and triple‑negative breast cancer, and what a future pan‑cancer label would mean for partnering, pricing and positioning.
With pharma partners circling and Phase II expansion on the horizon, the clinical data expected later this year may determine whether ELANE‑based therapy earns a category of its own.
Listen to the full podcast here:
