KAHR’s drug development pipeline is built around the 'Trans Signal Converter Proteins' (TSCP) technology, the outgrowth of research carried out over a decade at the University of Pennsylvania and the Hadassah Medical Center. The results of these research efforts have been published in multiple scientific publications.  The TSCP technology was invented by Professor Mark L. Tykocinski, presently Dean of the Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

TSCP molecules are fusion proteins connecting an extracellular portion of a Type-I membrane protein (at the fusion protein’s N-terminus) with an extracellular portion of a Type-II membrane protein (at the fusion protein’s C-terminus). This enhanced architecture of TSCP molecules creates fusion-proteins with two functional ends that allow the chimeric (fused) molecule to facilitate a unique mode-of-action with increased activity, specificity and therapeutic benefits that cannot be achieved by simply administering the TSCP protein elements as separate units.

Third generation biological drugs: KAHR's TSCP molecules represent the 3rd generation of biological drugs, a new class of biological drugs that offer a completely new mode-of-action from currently available drugs:
1st generation protein-based drugs including the interferons, erythropoietin and human growth hormone, have one functional end and a single target.
2nd generation protein-based drugs such as monoclonal antibodies and Fc-fusions, have two functional ends and a single target.
3rd generation TSCP drugs have two functional ends and two targets.

With two functional ends, unlike any existing drug, TSCP drugs are capable of converting one inter-cellular signal to another. This remarkable breakthrough has immediate implications for the treatment of diseases in which the natural ligands of the TSCP molecules are in close proximity, such as autoimmune disease and cancer;
In the treatment of autoimmune disease, TSCP drugs function in the gap between interacting immune cells; here they position themselves to be “in the right place at the right time,” leveraging the receptor expression pattern that is unique to the "immune synapse." In this scenario a pro-inflammatory signal on one cell can be converted into an inhibitory signal on another cell, leading to apoptosis of selected cell types such as activated T-cells and the down-regulation of inflammation.
   View an animated clip describing the TSCP technology in Autoimmune Treatment 

In the treatment of cancer, TSCP drugs exploit the abnormal receptor expression pattern of cancer cells; the natural ligands of the TSCP molecules which are normally found on different cell types appear on the same cancer cell. This abnormal receptor expression pattern is manipulated by TSCP drugs to induce an extremely effective and highly selective, self apoptosis of the cancer cell.

KAHR Medical has selected four promising TSCP candidates for its current and future drug development pipeline. Two of these candidates, KAHR-101 and KAHR-102, are currently in development towards clinical studies for the treatment of different autoimmune diseases and cancer.