Kanaph Therapeutics Raises 6M USD in Series A Financing for “Large
and Small Molecule Drug Development in Immuno-Oncology”
Participation from Timefolio Asset Management and
Meritz Securities – Funds to be used to cure solid tumors with its tumor
microenvironment(TME)-targeting immunocytokine platform, TMEkineTM
Kanaph Therapeutics, a newly founded biotech, recently
raised 6M USD from Timefolio Asset Management and Meritz Securities for its
Series A financing. This follows a seed investment of approximately 2M USD,
whereby Kanaph has secured funding for its drug discovery and development
activities.
Kanaph Therapeutics was founded by Byoung Chul Lee, who
builds on his extensive experience in antibody drug development accumulated at
Genentech, 23andMe and Santen. The limitation of current immuno-oncology drugs is
that a response can only be seen in 20-30% of patients, but the immunocytokine
platform, TMEkineTM, that Lee has created aims to enhance such
response rates. The conceptual IP has been licensed in from various
universities in the US and because significant amounts of discovery research
has already been completed, Kanaph will be ready to enter pre-clinical studies within
a year.
The company does not only develop large molecules but also
small molecule therapies. The goal is to increase the probability of technical
success of its pipeline by taking a two-track strategy; first-in-class large
molecule therapies for new targets and best-in-class small molecule therapies
for targets that have already been sufficiently validated.
Driving Kanaph’s drug development activities are doctorate
level key researchers from big pharma such as Amgen and top tier Korean pharma
companies, all with over 10 years of experience in the field.
Lee said, “Our TMEkineTM platform will target
crucial mechanisms for overcoming immune suppression in the tumor
microenvironment to meet the unmet medical needs of cancer patients.” He added,
“We are considering combination strategies between our large molecule and small
molecule therapies to create a more synergistic effect.” Upon evaluation of the
pipeline, resources will be allocated to the most promising program for
development into the clinic in 2021. Lee believes “Kanaph’s world class
Scientific Advisory Board members Deborah Charych of Third Rock Ventures,
Professor Brian Shoichet of UCSF, Professor Byoung Chul Cho of Yonsei Cancer
Center will play an important role in refining our drug development strategy,
and our strategic alliance with Yonsei Cancer Center and Chung-Ang University will
allow us to meet milestones at shortened timelines.”