On May 17, 2023 KSQ Therapeutics, ("KSQ"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cancer therapies using its proprietary CRISPRomics discovery platform, reported that it has expanded its strategic collaboration with Takeda to research and validate novel tumor-intrinsic targets (Press release, KSQ Therapeutics, MAY 17, 2023, View Source [SID1234631831]). Under the terms of the agreement, Takeda will provide KSQ with an upfront payment and an investment in the double-digit millions of dollars. KSQ is also eligible to receive up to $510 million in future payments if all milestones are achieved during the term of the agreement, plus royalties on potential net sales of any commercial product resulting from the collaboration.
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"Expanding on our successful partnership with Takeda further validates the effectiveness of the CRISPRomics platform in discovering exciting, novel targets in various cell types across modalities," said Qasim Rizvi, Chief Executive Officer of KSQ. "It also demonstrates KSQ’s ability to deliver results – our original collaboration, initiated in 2021 and focused on the discovery of novel NK cell and T cell-based targets, has already achieved several research milestones."
"We are encouraged by KSQ’s CRISPRomics platform and its ability to perform in vivo genetic screens for the discovery and validation of tumor targets, which have the potential to modulate the innate and adaptive immune system," said Kathy Seidl, Head, Oncology Drug Discovery Unit at Takeda. "We look forward to expanding our ongoing collaboration to identify novel targets that affect the sensitivity of tumors to immune cell-mediated death in the tumor microenvironment."