Kahimmune Therapeutics has signed a scientific collaboration agreement with Gustave Roussy to support the selection and development of its first shared mRNA companion neoantigen therapy candidate, KAH‑001, targeting colorectal and pancreatic cancers.
The company, co‑founded by Gustave Roussy Transfert, develops next‑generation immuno‑oncology therapies that exploit the dark genome to identify exclusive new neoantigens. These are designed for use alongside existing cancer treatments to improve their safety and effectiveness.
Under the agreement, Kahimmune will gain access to patients’ biological samples to generate preclinical data and select the antigens that will form KAH‑001 by mid‑2027. The company will then begin preclinical development and CMC activities to produce an mRNA‑LNP clinical candidate, with regulatory preclinical development planned by mid‑2029.
Kahimmune has received €90,000 in funding from France 2030 and Bpifrance to support the collaboration, as well as a €100,000 seed funding loan to advance its proprietary platform, Kahinomics, which is based on non‑coding RNAs representing 98% of human DNA.
Philippe Villain‑Guillot, founder and CEO of Kahimmune, explained: “We are very happy with this first collaboration with Gustave Roussy, a key player in cancer research, that has supported us since Kahimmune’s creation. This is a crucial step in the selection of our first therapeutic candidate ahead of initiating preclinical development.”
He added: “We also thank France 2030 and Bpifrance for their financial support. A seed funding round is underway, and we are continuing to liaise with potential clinical and academic partners.”
Christophe Javaud, executive director at Gustave Roussy Transfert, said: “With this agreement, Gustave Roussy once more demonstrates its capacity to collaborate with highly innovative biotech start‑ups to enable them to progress their assets to the preclinical stage.”
He said: “Furthermore, Kahimmune is one of five businesses that have recently joined the BOOST program run by the Paris‑Saclay Cancer Cluster, one of our partners.”
