K36 Therapeutics Launches with $30 Million Series A Financing from F-Prime Capital and Atlas Venture with Eight Roads Ventures

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — K36 Therapeutics, Inc. (“K36”), a privately held biotechnology company developing breakthrough therapies for the unmet medical needs of cancer patients, announced today its $30 million Series A financing co-led by F-Prime Capital and Atlas Venture with Eight Roads Ventures. The funds will be used to advance the company’s lead candidate, KTX-1001, through its first clinical proof-of-concept studies. KTX-1001 is a first-in-class, selective inhibitor of the histone methyltransferase (HMT) MMSET, which is overexpressed in up to 20% of multiple myeloma patients due to a t(4;14) translocation. The company plans to submit an IND for KTX-1001 in the first half of 2022.

“We are developing KTX-1001 to provide a targeted therapy that specifically addresses the underlying cause of cancer for these multiple myeloma patients. KTX-1001 will be the first therapeutic agent to enter the clinic that directly targets overexpression of MMSET,” said Terry Connolly, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of K36. “I am excited to be leading an experienced team of drug developers and working with our tremendous group of clinical advisors as we advance this program to rapid human POC studies.”

K36 also announced that industry veteran, Lori Kunkel, M.D., has joined the company’s board of directors, bringing with her more than two decades of experience in oncology and immunology drug development, commercialization and corporate strategy.

“Direct inhibition of MMSET as a potential treatment for high-risk t(4;14)-positive multiple myeloma has been eagerly pursued for many years, and I am delighted to be working with the team who is first to take this precision medicine to the clinic,” said K36 board member Lori Kunkel, M.D.

“K36 has the potential to address a significant unmet medical need in multiple myeloma patients who are t(4;14)-positive and beyond,” said Chong Xu, Ph.D., F-Prime Capital Partner and K36 board member. “This investment reflects our confidence in the K36 team and their ability to rapidly advance the development of KTX-1001. We are proud to support the company on its mission to develop therapies for cancer patients on a global scale.”

“K36 has assembled a world-class team of drug developers and clinical advisors and is now well funded to progress KTX-1001 through the clinic,” said Jason Rhodes, Atlas Venture Partner and K36 board member. “We look forward to working with the K36 team as the company progresses into its next stage of growth.”

Board of Directors
Chong Xu, Ph.D., Partner, F-Prime Capital
Jason Rhodes, Partner, Atlas Venture
Lori Kunkel, M.D., Independent Director
Terry Connolly, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, K36 Therapeutics

About K36 Therapeutics (“K36”)
K36 Therapeutics was established with the mission to translate epigenetic modulation of oncogenic pathways into first-in-class small molecule therapies. Its vision is to create breakthrough therapies for the unmet medical needs of cancer patients worldwide.

About KTX-1001
KTX-1001 is an orally bioavailable small molecule and a selective inhibitor of MMSET (also known as NSD2 and WHSC1).  The worldwide intellectual property rights to KTX-1001 were exclusively licensed by K36 from Novartis Pharmaceuticals. 

About F-Prime
F-Prime Capital is a global venture capital firm investing in healthcare and technology. For the past 50 years, our independent venture capital group has had the privilege of backing great entrepreneurs building groundbreaking companies.

With over $2 billion dollars under management and a global portfolio of more than 200 companies, we champion those dedicated to creating positive change in the world. In healthcare, we focus on therapeutics, medtech and health IT & services in a stage-agnostic fashion. Our healthcare fund has created or co-created 23 companies including Denali, Beam, Innovent, Orchard and Sana and has helped build many others including Blueprint Medicines, Iora Health, PatientPing, Devoted and Ultragenyx.  F-Prime portfolio companies have seen more than 28 products and drugs approved by regulatory agencies worldwide. Our team of investors, engineers, doctors and scientists is committed to bringing the insight, domain expertise and relationships required to help our companies make a transformational impact.

For more information, please visit www.fprimecapital.com

About Atlas Venture
Atlas Venture is a leading biotech venture capital firm.  With the goal of doing well by doing good, we have been building breakthrough biotech startups since 1993.  We work side by side with exceptional scientists and entrepreneurs to translate high-impact science into medicines for patients.  Our seed-led venture creation strategy rigorously selects and focuses investment on the most compelling opportunities to build scalable businesses and realize value.

For more information, please visit www.atlasventure.com

About Eight Roads
Eight Roads is a global venture capital firm backed by Fidelity, managing over $8bn of assets across offices in China, India, Japan, Europe and the US. The flexible nature of our capital means we can back and build innovative businesses looking to disrupt or lead their chosen markets. With over 50-year history of investing in healthcare and technology, Eight Roads has partnered with more than 300 game-changing and fast-growing companies globally.

Eight Roads has over 25 years of venture capital experience in China and has backed over 130 companies in the country’s healthcare and technology sectors such as Alibaba, Adagene, Asia Info, BangEr, Eyebright, FenBeiTong, Innovent, Innovusion, Kyligence, Medbanks, MediTrust, PingPong, Pony.ai, WuXi Apptec, etc.

For more information, please visit www.eightroads.com

For more information visit:
www.k36tx.com
https://www.linkedin.com/company/k36-therapeutics

K36 MEDIA CONTACT:
Michelle Kim | [email protected]

SOURCE K36 Therapeutics, Inc.