Montreal, QC, Canada, December 2, 2024 – KisoJi Biotechnology Inc., a company focused on the discovery and development of transformative antibody therapeutics, announces that it has raised $41 million in equity, including the conversion of previously funded convertible debentures. These funds will be used to advance its lead asset KJ-103, the first potent naked antibody against TROP2, into the clinic to treat solid tumors. Funds will also be used to deploy its cutting-edge antibody discovery platform towards new multi-specific therapeutic antibody drugs in cardiometabolic disease, as well as immunology and inflammation. The financing was led by Investissement Quebec and Lumira Ventures with participation by Fonds de solidarite FTQ, adMare BioInnovations, and Remiges Ventures.
As previously announced, KisoJi has established a clinical development partnership with Cancer Research UK to bring KisoJi’s lead asset, KJ-103, into a first-in-human clinical trial of approximately 100 patients. KJ-103 is highly differentiated from existing TROP2-targeting drugs on the market or in development, which are antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). KJ-103 does not require a cytotoxic payload but instead functions by recruiting immune cells to kill tumour cells.
The financing will also support the deployment of KisoJi’s cutting-edge antibody discovery platform, including the first of its kind antibody paratope map (KisoSeekTM) that effectively visualizes an immune response against a given target. The Company’s sampling tools allow us to maximize paratope diversity in a directed iterative strategy to focus on distinct antibodies and uncover novel biology, including functional GPCR antibodies.
KisoSeekTM is more efficient and provides greater insights than traditional antibody discovery methods and can integrate seamlessly into existing workflows. All existing data, whether positive or negative, can be used to augment a target specific paratope to supercharge antibody discovery instead of relying on traditional methods of random screening.
KisoJi has also developed a suite of camelid transgenic mice (KisoMouse®) that generate single domain antibodies to continue populating the world’s largest single domain antibody database created by KisoJi over the past 8 years. The paratope map and antibody database can be used to generate first-in-class and best-in-class multi-specific antibodies using KisoJi’s modular multi-specific antibody format (KisoBodyTM). The KisoBodyTM is easily customizable and manufacturable with tri-specific antibody titers at greater than 6 g/L in commercial production cell lines.
