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Kezar co-founder Christopher Kirk, Ph.D. began his work on the unique function of the immunoproteasome at Proteolix in 2005, while working on the compound that would become the successful multiple myeloma drug KYPROLIS™ (carfilzomib). As VP of Research at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, which acquired Proteolix in 2009, Christopher led the efforts to develop the first selective inhibitors of the immunoproteasome and designed multiple studies demonstrating their profound immunomodulatory effects. In parallel with this work, Christopher and Kezar co-founder Jack Taunton, Ph.D. collaborated on several research projects involving protein secretion. This collaboration inspired a belief in the strong synergies between protein degradation and protein secretion, two fertile areas for drug discovery with platform potential. In 2014, Christopher and Kezar co-founder John Fowler began developing the business plan for Kezar, acting on a longstanding desire to work together and build a world-class company. In 2015, John and Christopher raised $23M and negotiated a worldwide, exclusive license agreement with Amgen for the Onyx immunoproteasome inhibitor patent estate. Now underway, John and Christopher are excited to leverage their complementary skill sets to build Kezar into a leader in small molecule drug development.
Asterias Biotherapeutics is a leading biotechnology company in the emerging field of regenerative medicine. The company’s proprietary cell therapy programs are based on its immunotherapy and pluripotent stem cell platform technologies. Asterias is presently focused on advancing three clinical-stage programs which have the potential to address areas of very high unmet medical need in the fields of oncology and neurology.
Senda Biosciences, Inc. is uniquely positioned to transform human health by harnessing millions of years of evolution to program targeted, potent and tunable medicines. Nature has provided the codes to program human cells – both within the cell (mRNA), and, remarkably, to the cell - using what surrounds it. The trillions of non-human cells in the human ecosystem have evolved natural nanoparticles that precisely shuttle biomolecules into human cells, providing the missing pieces to fully unlock programmable medicines. Senda`s proprietary platform includes the first-ever atlas of nature-derived programmable systems at the molecular level and across all kingdoms of life – accessing the entire code provided by nature required to program cells. With this platform, Senda is developing a new class of SendRNA™ medicines. The unique properties of these medicines create new frontiers for mRNA therapeutics and vaccines for infectious, genetic, autoimmune, and metabolic diseases and oncology indications – with further potential to transform the gene editing and protein-based therapy landscapes as well. Based in Cambridge, MA, Senda was founded by Flagship Pioneering.
ALK-Abello A/S is a Denmark-based company active within the pharmaceutical industry. It is primarily engaged in the development of pharmaceutical products that target the cause of allergy. The Company is focused on allergy vaccination. Its product
Ribometrix is a platform therapeutics company discovering small molecule drugs that target functional 3D RNA structures to treat human diseases.