UT Austin-founded Kyn Therapeutics has been backed by Celgene in a strategic pact that also includes a $80m non-equity payment, giving Celgene the right to license two programs.
Kyn Therapeutics, a US-based developer of immunometabolic cancer drugs spun out from University of Texas (UT) at Austin, today secured funding from pharmaceutical company Celgene as part of a strategic partnership.
Founded in 2016, Kyn Therapeutics is working on cancer drugs that will target interactions between organism-sustaining metabolic processes and the immune system, a group of biological functions known as the immunometabolism.
The spinout was co-founded by George Georgiou, a professor and the Laura Jennings Turner chair in engineering at UT Austin’s McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering.
Celgene has gained exclusive options to license Kyn’s two immunometabolism programs – one targeting an antagonist of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, a transcription factor which regulates gene expression, and another focused on metabolic production in the kynurenine pathway.
Both mechanisms have been associated in multiple tumour subtypes with the body’s cellular metabolic processes becoming impaired, limiting its innate and adaptive immunity against disease.
Celgene will supply Kyn with a $80m upfront non-equity payment through the partnership, and will in return also gain rights to license the programs internationally.
The onus for research and development will remain solely with Kyn Therapeutics through phase 1b clinical testing, beyond which Celgene can exercise the right to fund and lead development if it so chooses.
Kyn will be eligible for additional payments should the collaboration meet certain clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, and will receive tiered royalties on product sales resulting from its programs.
The spinout raised $49m in a December 2017 series A round backed by healthcare-focused investment firm Orbimed Advisors and biotech-focused venture capital firm Atlas Venture.