Montréal-based biotech company KisoJi Biotechnology has raised $57 million CAD ($41 million USD) to bring its cancer treatment into clinical trials and leverage artificial intelligence (AI) for its antibody discovery technology.
KisoJi uses an AI model trained on its database of single antibodies, which the company says is the world’s largest, to identify new antibodies
The Series B round, which closed at the end of October, consists of majority new equity and some converted debt. KisoJi declined to say how much. Investissement Québec (IQ) co-led the round with Montréal-based Lumira Ventures, with participation from Fonds de solidarité FTQ, adMare BioInnovations, and US-Japan firm Remiges Ventures.
KisoJi Biotechnology said it will use the capital to bring its one-of-a-kind antibody into the clinic to target cancerous tumour cells, while also identifying new potential therapies for cardiometabolic diseases through its antibody discovery platform.
“This financing will enable KisoJi to continue its development of pipeline assets in oncology, cardiometabolic and immunology indications using our cutting-edge platform and AI tools,” David Young, co-founder and CEO of Kisoji, said in a statement.
KisoJi’s main offering, which will soon debut in a clinical trial, is KJ-103, a “naked” monoclonal antibody that binds to a protein found on the surface of tumour cells. The antibody works by attracting immune cells to eliminate cancerous cells. In preclinical tests, KJ-103 has shown promise against human tumours from breast, colorectal, and other cancers.
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The Montréal-based company reached an agreement with Cancer Research UK in October to introduce KJ-103 into its first human clinical trial with roughly 100 patients.
KisoJi told BetaKit that the safety and efficacy data it will garner from the upcoming clinical trial is part of the drug approval process in Canada and in other markets.
The new financing will also go towards the development of KisoJi’s antibody identification platform, which includes a mapping program called KisoSeek. The technology allows researchers to test potential immune responses against different targets in the body, which the company says is more efficient than random screening methods.
The platform uses an AI model trained on KisoJi’s database of single antibodies, which the company says is the world’s largest, to identify new antibodies that would be otherwise difficult to uncover. With the newly identified antibodies, the company hopes to develop new drugs that target cardiometabolic diseases like heart disease and stroke, as well as inflammation.
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President and CEO of IQ, Bicha Ngo, said in a statement that the investment represents the agency’s commitment to supporting the life sciences industry, which is still in its fledgling stage, according to a report from Réseau Capital.
Young, a surgeon by trade and University of Toronto alumnus, founded ARIUS Research in 1999 to develop antibody therapies when he was still a practicing medical resident. ARIUS was eventually bought by pharmaceutical multinational Roche in 2008 for $191 million, after which Young started KisoJi to continue research on antibody therapies.
Feature image courtesy National Cancer Institute via Unsplash.
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