On November 9, 2022 Kinimmune, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of localized immunotherapies, reported that the company has received $400k in funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health for its Phase I STTR application, "Development of a tumor-retentive immunostimulant as adjunct therapy for solid tumor cancers" (Press release, Kinimmune, NOV 9, 2022, View Source [SID1234623586]). This award will advance the preclinical development of KIN-102, an immunostimulant for intratumoral injection that is designed to turn ‘cold’ tumors ‘hot’ for synergy with immuno-oncology drugs such as checkpoint inhibitors.
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The STTR program at NCI is designed to fuel small businesses on the cutting edge of innovation with nondilutive funding to de-risk and advance promising cancer interventions. STTR grants from the NCI are highly selective and were awarded to just 15% of applicants in 2021. "Winning this award provides invaluable scientific validation in addition to the research funding," shared Cory Berkland, President and Co-founder of Kinimmune.
Kinimmune was founded out of Cory Berkland’s laboratory at the University of Kansas in collaboration with Nabil Alhakamy of King Abdulaziz University. Their work uncovered versatile anti-tumor utilities for glatiramer acetate, a long-approved multiple sclerosis drug. "The field’s understanding of glatiramer acetate’s therapeutic mechanism has evolved throughout its time in the clinic," said Danny Griffin, CSO of Kinimmune. He continued, "through a thorough physicochemical analysis we uncovered that its properties were conducive for retention and immune activation at the site of administration." This work led to the inception of Kinimmune and a Phase I "Window of Opportunity" trial at the University of Kansas Medical Center, where intratumorally injected glatiramer acetate’s safety and effects on the tumor immune profile are being studied (NCT03982212).
KIN-102 is a small volume nanosuspension of glatiramer acetate complexed with the immunostimulant CpG. KIN-102 combines the documented safety of FDA-approved glatiramer acetate with the abundance of late-stage clinical data of CpG in cancer, vaccines, and infectious disease. By conferring glatiramer acetate’s tumor adhesive properties to CpG’s potency, KIN-102 aims to retain this robust TLR9 agonist in solid tumors, thus amplifying anti-tumor immune effects at the site of injection while mitigating safety concerns caused by systemic exposure.
"This award from the NCI will help Kinimmune continue the preclinical development of KIN-102," shared Nabil Alhakamy, COO and Co-Founder of Kinimmune. "In 2021, King Abdulaziz University seeded Kinimmune with a financial investment, and additional resources from the University of Kansas Medical Center and BioGenerator Ventures have gone far to bring us to this point while continuing to catalyze our progress."
About KIN-102
KIN-102 is a tumor-adhesive formulation of the immunostimulant CpG. Designed to persist in tumor tissue, KIN-102 is intended to mitigate systemic immune-related adverse events while potentiating immune activity in the tumor microenvironment and draining lymph nodes. By localizing TLR9 ligation to the tumor microenvironment, KIN-102 is intended to turn ‘cold’ tumors ‘hot.’