IDEA Mississauga and Modern Mississauga Media present a series of local business profiles, in which each business has participated in the IDEA Mississauga Step-Up Program.

In conversation with Harsimran Kaur Garcha, Business Development Specialist at Mississauga’s HDAX Therapeutics.

What does HDAX Therapeutics specifically do?
HDAX Therapeutics is developing a new class of disease-modifying therapeutics for cancer patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.  

How long has the business been in operation?
Since August of 2021. The academic research began seven years ago at Patrick Gunning’s research group at the University of Toronto Mississauga. 

What inspired this business?
It came from the critical unmet need that exists today, and the personal losses we have experienced as founders. Over 30M people in just the USA alone suffer from some form of peripheral neuropathy- a condition where the nerves become damaged from a number of reasons- diabetes, chemotherapy, injury, or even genetic conditions. It can lead to awful pain, loss of sensation, and in more serious cases, paralysis. Sadly, there are no treatment for this disease and many other diseases, so all doctors can do is prescribe painkillers and antidepressants to dull the pain temporarily without actually addressing the root of the disease. At HDAX Therapeutics, we are developing the first ever disease-modifying therapy for these difficult unmet needs that destroy the lives of millions of people every year, including some of our loved ones. 

What makes your business stand out?
We utilize a novel and patented mechanism to bind to the disease driver protein in these difficult diseases. We have a 2-site binding mechanism, which enables us to grasp the target with "2 hands", while existing molecules can only do that with "1 hand". The second layer of interaction has improved potency, selectivity, drug half-life, and much more, giving us a competitive advantage over other competitors. This know-how can be expanded to multiple indications such as diabetes-induced neuropathy (DPN) and Charcot-Marie Tooth (CMT) disease and multiple modes of actions as well.

How has IDEA Mississauga impacted your business?
As a Mississauga-based company our goal for this program is to connect with our local ecosystem and leverage the network and resources available to us within our city and we have been able to do just that. In particular, the mentor/networking sessions have been very insightful, and we have received valuable advice from experts in our field.

What succinct advice would you give aspirational business owners?
Behind every success there is effort, behind the effort there is passion, and behind the passion, there are people with the courage to try- Arthur B. McDonald, Nobel Laureate. This is one of the quotes we resonate the most with; have the courage to try, and fail, and reiterate until you finally get it right!

What are your businesses goals for 2023?
We aim to close our first VC investment round allowing us to nominate a clinical candidate for IND-enabling studies for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (our first indication.)

hdaxtx.com
IDEAmississauga.ca