Spin-off company will focus on developing therapies in areas of inflammation and immunometabolism
Kynos Therapeutics has announced major financing to support its lead KMO inhibitor (KMOi) programme through phase 1 clinical trials. It will also progress its innovative pipeline of first-in-class KMOi across key indications in inflammation, immunity and metabolism.
The company has today emerged from stealth mode with £9m to finance the programmes.
Professor Damian Mole, CEO of Kynos Therapeutics, explained: “Our goal is to improve health and make a positive impact for patients, by developing our programme in the therapeutic area of inflammation and immunometabolism. We are very excited by the potential of our first-in-class KMO inhibitors and we are ready to enter the clinic with our lead asset.”
Kynos programmes focus on three key areas: critical illness post-surgery, conditions driven by inflammation and cancers where inflammation prevents the immune system from fighting back.
“Our programmes are based on extensive industry collaborative research with a robust science base supported by multiple high impact publications,” Mole added. “There are no approved or marketed medicines for our gateway indication, for which there is a significant unmet need.”
Kynos is an immune-metabolic company with world-leading expertise in the kynurenine pathway and kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO) biology. The kynurenine pathway is a metabolic pathway. The company is a spin-out from the University of Edinburgh, based on over a decade of research into KMO biology and its inhibitors.
KMO plays a major role in the control of inflammation and metabolism, contributing to the regulation of the immune system. It is a mitochondrial enzyme that converts kynurenine into biologically active 3HK that damages cells. Blocking KMO reduces 3HK, protecting against tissue damage.
Kerry Sharp, director of Growth Investments at Scottish Enterprise, is optimistic about the investment: “Scotland is globally renowned for its strengths in life sciences because of our innovative companies, incredible talent and world-class universities. Supporting companies in this sector, such as Kynos Therapeutics, to progress its ground-breaking medical research is a priority for Scottish Enterprise.”
She added: “Kynos is developing an innovative portfolio of first-in-class medicines and this funding will help deliver therapies for patients impacted by inflammatory conditions.”
