SEATTLE– KayoThera, Inc. (“KayoThera”), an early-stage therapeutics company developing novel cancer immunotherapies, today announces the closing of an $8 million Series A round of financing. The financing was led by Accelerator Life Science Partners (“ALSP”) with participation from BioAdvance and 7G Bioventures. KayoThera will focus its therapeutic development efforts on its lead oncology program to further advance the technology towards a product that will benefit patients with late-stage and metastatic cancers.
“KayoThera is developing a paradigm-shifting cancer immunotherapy that has significant clinical and commercial potential,” said Ken Mohler, PhD, Chief Development Officer at ALSP. “We believe that this Series A investment will provide the financial resources to rapidly advance the company’s development program towards the clinic, which will open the door to an exciting new therapeutic approach.”
KayoThera’s science is based on research conducted by Mark Esposito, PhD and Yibin Kang, PhD at Princeton University. Dr. Kang, a Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Molecular Biology, and Dr. Esposito, a postdoctoral research associate in the Kang lab, co-founded KayoThera in 2019 to pursue the development of therapies based on their research.
“KayoThera is founded on a deep understanding of the underlying biology of metastatic cancers. We have identified and validated a family of key enzymes that can be targeted with novel small molecule inhibitors to treat advanced cancers,” described Dr. Kang.
Dr. Esposito will continue at KayoThera as Vice President of Research and Development and Dr. Kang will serve as the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board. “We are extremely excited about the investment by ALSP, and the opportunity to work with a partner that provides exceptional drug development experience and resources which will be critical to the success of KayoThera,” stated Dr. Esposito, Co-Founder of KayoThera.
