Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. (Biohaven) announced that it has provided Series A financing to Kleo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Kleo) to advance the company’s novel Antibody Recruiting Molecules (ARMs) and Synthetic Antibody Recruiting Molecules (SyAMs). The company plans to develop ARMs and SyAMs to treat cancer and infectious diseases. Both companies were spun out of intellectual property arising from Yale University.
In addition to the financing, the companies entered into a clinical development master services agreement leveraging the strengths of both companie. Kleo has leading expertise in chemistry discovery, and Biohaven has expertise in pharmaceutical clinical development with its management coming from the pharmaceutical industry including experience at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer and Alexion. Although the terms of the Series A financing are not disclosed, Biohaven will take a substantial equity stake in Kleo.
Vlad Coric, M.D., CEO of Biohaven commented, “Strategic investments and partnerships like the one we are embarking upon with Kleo are a highly efficient way for small biotech companies to share risk and create value for its investors. Biohaven is funding a novel and potentially paradigm shifting technology in the cutting edge field of immune-based therapies, and also lending our clinical development expertise to Kleo.”
Declan Doogan, M.D., chairman at Biohaven added, “We are impressed with the ingenuity of David Spiegel’s approach to cancer and infectious disease with the ARMs and SyAMs that were first conceptualized in his lab. Combing the complementary strengths of each company, we believe will result in novel treatment paradigms for patients.”
David Spiegel, M.D., PhD., commented, “Biologics have been the gold standard for immunotherapies. With ARMs and SyAMs, we have the opportunity to raise that bar. Our ability to rationally design and synthesize small molecules that emulate the functionality of biologics represents a great advancement in the field. Our molecules are hundreds of times lighter than their biological counterparts and thus may infiltrate tissue more efficiently than large proteins. These small molecules are easier to produce, more tractable to engineer, and non-immunogenic. It’s a tremendously exciting time.” Dr. Spiegel added, “Combining our expertise in ARMs and SyAMs with Biohaven’s investment and development expertise represents an ideal collaboration.”
Greg Bailey M.D., Director at Biohaven, stated, “We are excited about the extraordinary opportunity that Kleo Pharmaceuticals presents. Their unique science with the Biohaven teams’ development expertise is a compelling combination. I know our team is focused on translating Kleo’s exciting work into the clinic as soon as possible.” Dr. Bailey, who was one of the initial financiers of Medivation, added, “The field of immuno-oncology has rapidly been evolving and promises to continue to improve patient outcomes. I’ve been fortunate to be involved in financing a number of biotech companies and believe that this investment, in particular, can be transformative for Kleo, our patients and to investors.”