Caspian Therapeutics has raised $50 million to advance its lead oral programme, KO-7246, and related assets.
The company was spun out from Kura Oncology to pursue menin inhibitors as a treatment for metabolic disease, rather than the cancer applications the drug class was originally developed for.
What the funding will pay for
Caspian said the money will fund preclinical and IND-enabling work on KO-7246, the stage of development required before a drug can begin human trials.
In preclinical testing, the compound has shown the ability to regenerate pancreatic beta cells and boost insulin production, the cells whose loss or dysfunction underlies diabetes.
The funding will also be used to build a dedicated team and infrastructure separate from Kura.
Why this drug class matters here
The approach repurposes menin chemistry that has already been validated in leukaemia, where two menin inhibitors are currently approved for use in blood cancer patients.
Applying that same chemistry to a chronic metabolic condition such as diabetes represents a significant shift in how the drug class is being used.
Kura's continued involvement
"We needed to bring in dedicated expertise and capital," Kura Oncology chief executive Troy Wilson said.
Wilson will serve as Caspian's executive chairman while remaining chief executive of Kura.
Kura participated in the funding round and will retain about a 50% stake in Caspian, with the two companies remaining operationally linked and continuing to share some operational teams.
Who else is backing the programme
Investors in the round include BVF Partners, Eli Lilly and the T1D Fund, among others.
What comes next
Caspian plans to present additional data at a medical meeting later this month.
A start date for human testing has not yet been disclosed, meaning the programme remains some way from reaching patients despite the scientific rationale already built up around it.
