NEW YORK – Kynexis on Tuesday launched as a biotechnology company developing precision therapeutics for brain diseases.
The firm, headquartered in Naarden, Netherlands, launched with €57 million from a Series A financing round led by Forbion, a venture capital firm that invests in life sciences companies, with participation from Ysios Capital and Sunstone Life Science Ventures.
The company, which also has a US subsidiary in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will develop targets for its precision therapeutics based on causal biomarkers and use genetics to identify responder subpopulations.
Kynexis' lead therapeutic candidate, a KAT-II inhibitor in preclinical development called KYN-5356, aims to treat cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia. The candidate was developed based on research showing that dysregulation of kynurenic acid causes cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. KAT-II is an enzyme that's critical in the kynurenine pathway.
"The scientific rationale for modulating the kynurenine pathway and the emerging human genetics in schizophrenia form the basis for our unique precision medicine approach to the development of KYN-5356," Kynexis CEO Kees Been said in a statement.
Kynexis licensed KYN-5356 from Osaka, Japan-based Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, giving it exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize the drug.