OUR SCIENCE
B7 FAMILY: ONE VISION. MANY FIRSTS.
Immunotherapies targeting the B7 receptor family—such as PD-1, PD-L1 and CTLA-4—have significantly improved patient outcomes and revolutionized oncology treatment over the past two decades. Now a new generation of B7 family members – including B7-H3, B7-H4 and B7-H7 (also known as HHLA2) offer the potential to reach patients unresponsive to existing therapies.
At NextPoint, we are building a unified pipeline around the distinct yet complementary biology of the B7-H7 axis. Our strategy is singular: create precision therapeutics that combine direct tumor cell killing and immunomodulation in a single molecule for long-term cancer control.
WHY B7-H7 STANDS OUT
B7-H7 is a compelling therapeutic target due to its clean tumor selectivity and powerful role in immune escape mechanisms.
Compared to other B7 family members, it shows:
Precision Targeting
B7-H7 expression is largely confined to tumor cells, supporting a biomarker-driven strategy to identify patients most likely to benefit from B7-H7-targeted therapies.
High Tumor Expression
B7-H7 is not only highly expressed in tumors, but also highly specific to tumor epithelial cells, which sets it apart from other B7 family members such as B7-H3 and B7-H4.
Minimal Normal Tissue Expression
Unlike these other targets, B7-H7 is largely absent from normal tissue—including immune cells—minimizing the risk of off-target immune activation. Its expression is primarily restricted to epithelial cells in the gastrointestinal tract, offering a cleaner, more selective profile for tumor-directed therapies.
Independent of PD-L1
B7-H7 is expressed independently of PD-L1 and operates through an inhibitory receptor (KIR3DL3) to block T/NK cell activation and a stimulatory receptor (TMIGD2) to enhance T/NK cell activation.
Dual Immune Receptor Activity
B7-H7 interacts with both KIR3DL3 (inhibitory) and TMIGD2 (stimulatory) receptors on T and NK cells, making it uniquely positioned to modulate immune responses through multiple pathways and enabling both checkpoint blockade and immune activation.
Superb Internalization Profile
B7-H7 internalizes efficiently, making it a highly effective vehicle for targeted payload delivery in ADC formats.