Flashpoint Therapeutics Announces $50M KAIMRC Partnership and Clinical Pipeline Expansion

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Nov 14, 2024, 08:00 ET

New collaboration establishes research center and advances nanomedicine development programs

CHICAGO, Nov. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Flashpoint Therapeutics, a clinical-stage therapeutics company pioneering structural nanomedicine, today announced significant expansion of its therapeutic pipeline through strategic acquisitions and a new partnership valued at $50M with The King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC) in Saudi Arabia.

Structural nanomedicine is an innovative therapeutic approach that enables the creation of precisely engineered nanostructures combining multiple drug components in optimized configurations. This platform technology significantly enhances target cell delivery, therapeutic potency, and safety profiles compared to conventional treatment methods.

"Complex diseases remain inadequately addressed by traditional drugs," said Chad Mirkin, PhD, scientific founder of Flashpoint Therapeutics. "Structural nanomedicines allow us to arrange medicinally active components into configurations that can treat previously undruggable diseases. This represents a fundamental shift in therapeutic development."

The newly announced partnership with KAIMRC establishes the state-of-the-art Flashpoint-KAIMRC Center of Excellence (COE) in Structural Nanomedicine. The Flashpoint-KAIMRC COE is expected to receive funding up to $50M in the next five years to conduct clinical trials on structural nanomedicine candidates and advance structural nanomedicine drug discovery programs targeting diseases prevalent in Saudi Arabia and globally.

Through strategic licensing and acquisition deals with Northwestern University, Holden Pharmaceuticals, and Exicure, Flashpoint has assembled over 150 issued patents and patent applications covering nucleic acid, protein, and CRISPR gene editing therapeutics.

Flashpoint's lead program, FLASH-001, is a structural nanomedicine incorporating toll-like receptor 9 agonists for immuno-oncology applications. In phase 1b/2 trials, FLASH-001 has demonstrated a curative effect in a small subset of Merkel Cell Carcinoma patients. Flashpoint plans to expand the study in 2025 to larger patient cohorts and additional cancer types. The company's pipeline includes clinical stage programs targeting skin disorders and multiple preclinical programs in immuno-oncology, neurology, and other indications.

"The establishment of our Center of Excellence with KAIMRC and our growing clinical pipeline demonstrate the momentum behind Flashpoint's structural nanomedicine platform," said Adam Margolin, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Flashpoint Therapeutics. "We're executing a dual strategy of internal development and pharmaceutical partnerships to advance first-in-class structural nanomedicines that could fundamentally change how we treat complex diseases."

About Flashpoint Therapeutics
Flashpoint Therapeutics is at the forefront of drug discovery with its innovative structural nanomedicine platform. By precisely delivering RNA, DNA, and peptide cargoes to specific cellular targets, our technology facilitates the creation of highly potent, multi-targeted therapies with optimized structure-function relationships and synchronized activation kinetics. Through groundbreaking research led by Dr. Chad Mirkin, Director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern University, Flashpoint has developed a structural nanomedicine platform based on exclusive rights to spherical nucleic acid technology.

SOURCE Flashpoint Therapeutics