For as long as we can all remember, dogs have been “Man’s Best Friend”. Out of the 67% of families that own pets in the US, most of them own at least one dog.
If you don’t own one, you probably want to; or even if you don’t, you probably know someone who does.
As reported by Statistica, in 2017, there were about 89.7 million dogs owned in just the United States, alone! And this number has increased overtime, by a staggering 20 million since the year 2000.
As most dog owners know, when we bring home a puppy… Even if it’s not truly a puppy, our canine friends become part of the family.
When they’re happy and healthy, life is good; but when our little furry dependents get sick, or even worse, are diagnosed with cancer, that elation is disrupted. But luckily for our doggos, I think it’s safe to say, according to the statistics compiled by American Pet Products Association (APPA), most of us are willing to do what it takes to try and make them better.
Last year in 2018, pet owners spent a combined $16.01 billion on pet supplies and over the counter (OTC) medicine, as well as an additional $18.11 billion on veterinary care. And millennials might just be first in line when it comes to coughing up cash to care for a pet. According to an online survey, conducted by Head Solutions Group on behalf of the TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation, millennials are willing to spend an average of almost $2000 on a sick pet, while about one in every 10 millennials are willing to spend a whopping $10,000 or more on a sick pet!
Why all this talk about how much we are willing to spend on our devoted doggos? Because it proves just how much we love and care about them! And it shows that developing a cure for cancer would not only markedly impact our dog’s lives for the better, but also our own lives as well!
Fortunately, the accomplished and promising startup, Life Engine Animal Health (LEAH) Labs, believes they have the solution, at least when it comes to curing B-cell lymphoma: the naturally-occurring model of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in humans, that kills about 300,000 dogs per year.
What Is B-Cell Lymphoma?
The word “lymphoma”, in general, is the overarching term used by doctors to describe the group of cancers that stem from lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are the infection-fighting white blood cells found all throughout the body, especially in organs that play a role in the immune system, such as lymph nodes, bone marrow, and the spleen. They help to prevent the spread of disease, as well as heal wounds and provide immunity against viruses. B-cells (lymphocytes) in particular, fight bacteria and viruses by producing “Y-shaped” proteins, known as antibodies, which can then latch themselves onto the cell surfaces of specific pathogens, thereby letting other immune cells (killer T-cells) in the body know that these cells must be destroyed.
When lymphoma develops, that means that there is a genetic mutation, or a series of genetic mutations within a lymphocyte that causes the cells to grow abnormally and eventually become malignant. This will ultimately lead to organ and other body malfunctions, as well as death, within about 6-8 weeks from the time a dog is diagnosed (if not treated). **Which to me, is an unbelievably short amount of time!!**
While all dogs are susceptible to B-cell lymphoma, it is most prevalent in Golden Retrievers, Doberman Pinchers, and Cocker Spaniels.
Photo by Caleb Carl on Unsplash
Unfortunately, it is not entirely uncommon for B-cells to mutate into liquid cancer, as B-cell lymphoma makes up for about 60-80% of lymphoma cases in dogs. But luckily, since most B-cell tumors are high-grade, which means that the cells inside the tumors are noticeably large and rapidly dividing, the doggy patients will often times respond well to chemotherapy, which kills dividing cells all throughout the body. Because of this, there is a higher chance of remission with B-cell lymphoma, and higher/longer survival rates than most other canine cancers that are low-grade or aren’t as “easily” treatable.
With all this being said, however, while a dog may go into remission for some time, the cancer usually comes back after an average of 8-10 months, with the median survival time being one year. Only around 25% of dogs may still be alive after two years. And it is quite rare for a dog to still be around, without any additional treatments, for years after being diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma.
So even though chemotherapy is usually the most effective choice of treatment for dogs with B-cell lymphoma, the fact that the vast majority of dogs will experience relapse within about 18 months means that the chemotherapy probably does not kill all of the cancer. The chemo only treats it into dormancy, meaning, it does not cure B-cell lymphoma.
This Is Where LEAH Labs Comes In…
As I said before, B-cell lymphoma is just like the naturally-occurring model of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in humans. The cancer in dogs is actually so similar to the cancer in humans, that the treatments for the cancers are carried out in almost the exact same way (which makes sense, since dogs and humans share 85% of the same genes). And because the cancer is so common, a ton of research has been conducted that has led to a greater understanding of the cancer overall… Research that can be applied to both humans and dogs when it comes to cracking down on a cure.
Right now, there are two FDA-approved Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies being used to cure humans with lymphoma. CAR-T cell therapy involves reprogramming naturally-occurring killer T-cells (the other type of infection-fighting white blood cell, other than B-cells) with chimeric antigen receptors that are engineered to find and bind to antigens found on cancer cells, and kill the cancer. The specificity and binding concept is somewhat similar to the process I described above, regarding how B-cells mark pathogen cells for destruction. But unlike the killer T-cells that are forced to associate with and be misled by faulty, cancerous B-cells, these killer (CAR) T-cells will not be impacted by whatever mutation caused the B-cells to go awry. And unlike chemotherapy, which seeks to kill all dividing cells, meaning that other (healthy) dividing cells, like hair or bone marrow, could be damaged, LEAH Labs will engineer these CAR-T-cells to be highly-specific in targeting B-cells only, sparing those other types of healthy cells from being damaged.
I know, you’re probably thinking: “Wait, did you just say the CAR-T cells will target all B-cells, even the healthy ones?!”
The answer is “yes”, that is what I said. LEAH Labs is choosing to target a protein that is expressed on all B-cells, called “CD20” (for humans, the protein that has been targeted for this treatment is called “CD19”… See how similar they are?!). Therefore, all B-cells, but only B-cells, will be killed off during the treatment. Which is fine, because loss of B-cells is a manageable condition in both humans and dogs, due to adaptive immunity abilities, and is not permanent! Healthy B-cells will return in a few weeks after treatment.
Here are a few figures LEAH Labs uses to demonstrate how CAR-T cell therapy works to kill cancer.
CAR-T cell therapy has literally saved humans from their deathbeds in clinics. With the cancer being so similar in dogs and humans, LEAH Labs said “why not cure cancer in our furry friends too?!” And considering how much we are all love our devoted doggos, pursuing this is a total NO BRAINER!
Of course, while the concept and methods being used to cure the cancer in humans will be similar when it comes to curing the cancer in dogs, not everything regarding the treatment will be exactly the same. And don’t be fooled, although the CD20 and CD19 proteins may be similar, engineering CAR-T cells to target these proteins is very difficult and highly specific, so there is risk involved with the development process, but LEAH Labs will take the necessary precautions to reduce the risk by performing testing in a petri dish LONG before the treatment is carried out on a living dog.
You might be wondering how it will be possible for LEAH Labs to actually engineer these CAR-T cells and pull this off.
Well, the CEO of LEAH Labs, Dr. Wesley Wierson, who got his PhD in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, developed a patent-pending gene-editing CRISPR technology during his PhD that will be essential for allowing them to do just that: engineer CAR-T cells. The acronym “CRISPR” stands for “clusters of regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats”, and is actually shorthand for “CRISPR-Cas9”. CRISPRs are specialized stretches of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and the “CRISPR associated protein 9” (Cas9) is an enzyme that acts like a pair of molecular scissors, capable of cutting these specialized strands of DNA.
In short, this technology works by attaching a (guiding) ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequence, that matches a scientist-specified DNA sequence, to the Cas9 protein, so that the Cas9 protein can ultimately find and cut a specific location of DNA in the genome once it’s been fed into the cell. At the CRISPR cut site, we can then insert a cargo DNA sequence that will reprogram the cell to make the CAR.
Imagine it like this: you type out a whole essay, but when you’re done, you realize you need to add a paragraph in the middle of it. Scientists can use CRISPR (the computer mouse pointer) to find the spot in the genome (the essay) and “paste” in the new genetic information (the paragraph) that encodes the CAR.
By using this technology to reprogram actual killer T-cells in a living dog’s body, and give instructions to the T-cells to produce CARs that are specific to the CD20 proteins on B-cells, we can obliterate B-cell lymphoma in dogs.
Is this as “simple” as it sounds? No, of course not. It is possible that even if this works, complications could arise from the CAR-T cells doing their job. For instance, cytokine release syndrome (CRS), which is a form of systemic inflammatory response syndrome that causes low blood oxygen, low blood pressure, cardiac issues, as well as a number of other symptoms, is proving to be a somewhat common side effect of CAR-T therapy in humans. But there are certain medications that can be taken and protocols to be followed if the CRS is mild enough, that will allow the patient to jump over this side effect hurdle.
LEAH Labs is well aware of these types of development obstacles and luckily have employed just the right people to help combat these potential issues and mitigate the risks associated with them. In addition to having the co-founder and veterinary pharmacist, Dr. Jonathan Mochel on the team, who got his PhD in pharmacology, LEAH Labs also has one of the actual inventors of an FDA-approved CAR-T cell therapy patent for humans – Dr. Saad Kenderian, as one of the co-founders.
LEAH Labs has been founded by some of the only people in the world who have the right kind of scientific expertise to accomplish this feat of curing cancer in dogs. Personally, I think they are a team destined for greatness and I can’t wait to see what the future holds!
The five founders of LEAH Labs
Aside from the obvious benefits of possibly curing the cancer, instead of just buying another year of life, CAR-T cell therapy can provide a potentially more affordable alternative treatment to chemotherapy, which typically costs ~$5,000 to even $10,000 or more, depending on where you go. At $5,000, (which could be covered by insurance), and only three trips to the vet (as opposed to 16 trips over the course of 5+ months for chemo), you could be left with a little more money in your pocket, less time spent in vet hospitals, and a dog that may continue to survive for several more years post-diagnosis. Sounds like a great deal to me!
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While the guys at LEAH Labs have already made some great progress on their journey to finding a cure, there is still plenty of work to be done before this treatment can go to the market. Luckily, their product is able to be regulated by the USDA instead of the FDA, which will save a significant amount of time and money throughout this whole process, and will allow the product to hit the market quicker (perhaps within 2-3 years), and start saving our furry friends! In order to do this work though, they need funding. In order for LEAH Labs to meet their goals, it is imperative that they raise the funding required to finish up their work.
That’s Where YOU Come In!
Ever heard of a thing called Angel Investing? Before 2016, angel investing was a type of investing that was only available to high net worth individuals, otherwise known as “accredited investors”… people worth at least $1 million or more. These wealthy people would take their riches and provide funding for small startups and entrepreneurs in exchange for ownership/equity in these companies – companies that hadn’t yet gone public or been bought by another, larger company. But now, as of 2016, new rules of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act have been put into effect: Anyone over the age of 18 can invest!
Now, there are rules as to how much you can invest depending on how much you make and stuff, and I’m not an expert, so I’m not going to go into great detail here, but just know, that it is now possible to invest in a small business with as little as $50 (although, the most common minimum I’ve been seeing with startups is $100).
$100! That’s it!!!
I realize for some people, that might still be too much to gamble with, but when you think of the potential return on investment (ROI) if the company you invest in does really well…. We’re talking about earning hundreds, if not, thousands of times more dollars than what you initially put in. **Crazinesssss!!**
Now, please, don’t go pouring all your savings into startups… I did say that it is risky business. But it is something to think about, and maybe even act on, especially when it comes to LEAH Labs. You know why?
LEAH Labs was the very first (and so far, the only) startup I have ever invested in. And I honestly couldn’t be more pleased and excited by my decision!
The way I see it – Yes, angel investing is risky. Especially when it comes to startups that don’t even have an actual, finalized product yet and have literally made $0 (like LEAH Labs). But there are some general rules you can follow and questions to think about that can reduce the risk of losing your money, like:
1) Is the company going to solve an ACTUAL (big) problem?
In the case for LEAH Labs, could there BE a bigger problem than your beloved furry friend being diagnosed with cancer? While the answer for some of you is probably “yes”, just humor me for a second, okay? Because if LEAH Labs can actually cure one of the most common cancers in dogs, B-cell lymphoma, within the next 2-3 years, that’s some pretty damn good news, and definitely a miraculous solution to a BIG problem!
2) Does the company have a large Total Addressable Market (TAM)?
The reason I provided all those stats in the beginning of this post was because I wanted to be able to address this important point. If LEAH Labs is able to pull this off, how many people would pay for their dog to be cured?
Let’s see, there’s over 90 million dogs that are owned right now in just the US, alone. Approximately 300,000 of them die every year due to this disease. Last year, in 2018, pet owners collectively spent many billions of dollars on supplies, medicine, and vet care. The majority of millennials (and probably other generations too) are willing to spend at least a couple thousand dollars on their pet, if not, $10,000 or more!
Now, let’s just say that only 10% of those 300,000 dogs that died of B-cell lymphoma within the past year, had the privilege of being treated with this $5,000 therapy. So that’s 30,000 dogs x $5,000… Right there, that’s $150,000,000!! And I’m going to give pet owners the benefit of the doubt and say that more than just 10% of people would pay for their dogs to be cured. So we’re talking, a pretty decent-sized TAM.
Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash
3) Will the company beat out competition?
In the case for LEAH Labs… WHAT competition? No other company is doing exactly what LEAH Labs is doing right now. Not even the CAR-T cell therapy being conducted on humans is prepared the exact same way when it comes to reprogramming the killer T-cells. There are very few people in the world who have the expertise to genetically engineer highly-specific CAR-T cells to tackle the particular problem of B-cell lymphoma in dogs.
Regarding the patent-pending gene-editing technology – that is in the final steps of being issued, which upon completion, will allow LEAH Labs to defend the critical parts of the technology.
4) Do the founders of the company have their shit together?
This is probably the most subjective (though very crucial) point to consider, but if you do your research, you can usually get a pretty good feeling for whether or not a team has what it takes to make it. My own personal opinion about the five co-founders of LEAH Labs, is that they are all highly qualified, very intelligent, and uniquely knowledgeable on the topic of gene editing and the steps that need to be accomplished in order to achieve success. They seem determined, hungry, confident in their abilities, and overall, I have been very impressed with the detail they provide when it comes to answering questions from potential investors. AND! In general, they just seem like good guys that genuinely want to save dog lives! Good vibes all around.
Aside from these four major factors to consider when investing, one of the things that has given me even more confidence in this particular investment with LEAH Labs, is that we are currently CURING cancer in HUMANS with this CAR-T cell therapy technology!!! That is HUGE!! What LEAH Labs is essentially doing, is taking a technology that has already proven to be successful in clinical trials with a mammal that shares 85% of the same genes as dogs, but is making that technology even better and more specific.
I’m just saying, I invested $500 of my own hard-earned money into this startup and I have #noregrets.
If you are interested in investing in LEAH Labs, or have any further questions at all, I highly recommend you click the following link, which will bring you directly to the LEAH Labs crowdfunding site at Wefunder.com. From there, you can sign up (for free) to be an investor, and you can read allll the information that LEAH Labs has provided, as well as be able to reach out to the co-founders if you have any further questions.
If you choose to invest (or even if you don’t), good luck to you; and as always, thank you for reading.
-Brianna-Marie
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