On March 23, 2022 Kirilys Therapeutics, Inc., a private, preclinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded by investment firm Catalys Pacific, reported that the Company completed a seed financing led by Lightspeed Venture Partners (Press release, Kirilys Therapeutics, MAR 23, 2022, View Source [SID1234610776]). The company licensed its lead compound, KRLS-017, from Ube Industries, Ltd., a premier Japanese chemical manufacturer. The company also completed a partnership agreement with D2G Oncology, Inc. which uses genetically defined animal tumor models to reveal relationships between cancer genotypes and drug efficacy. This financing round will enable Kirilys to complete all activities through the IND filing of KRLS-017, as well as preparatory work for the Phase 1 clinical development program.
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KRLS-017 is a reversible small molecule inhibitor of Cyclin Dependent Kinase 7 (CDK7). CDK7 has been implicated as a key regulator of both transcriptional addiction and cell cycle dysregulation in tumors and therefore represents an attractive target for therapeutic intervention across a broad range of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. In preclinical studies, KRLS-017 demonstrated best-in-class potency, selectivity, and anti-tumor efficacy along with very favorable properties for an oral drug.
"Selective inhibition of CDK7 offers a compelling opportunity to bring new therapeutic options to patients suffering from difficult to treat transcriptionally-driven cancers," said Galym Imanbayev, M.D., partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. "We are excited to back this unique combination of accomplished team, quality of asset, and a proprietary clinical strategy enabled by D2G Oncology."
"We founded Kirilys to combine ground-breaking science in precision oncology from D2G Oncology with excellent drug discovery from Japan," said BT Slingsby, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., founder and executive chairman of Kirilys and managing partner, Catalys Pacific. "KRLS-017 holds significant potential for patients worldwide and we are confident in the tremendously experienced Kirilys team to develop KRLS-017 and deliver on that promise."
Joining BT Slingsby and Takeshi Takahashi on the board of directors are Kapil Dhingra, M.B.B.S., who is the former Head of Roche Oncology and Co-Founder of Kirilys, and Galym Imanbayev, M.D., M.B.A., Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners.