Kanvas Biosciences Introduces New Drug Candidate in its Immuno-oncology Program

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Jun 20, 2024, 13:38 ET

KAN-003 seeks to improve outcomes for patients with ICI-naive cancers and is undergoing preclinical studies in collaboration with the MD Anderson Cancer Center.

PRINCETON, N.J., June 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kanvas Biosciences, a full-stack spatial biology company, today introduced its newest drug candidate in its Immuno-oncology Program: KAN-003. The Kanvas platform provides the unique ability to map host-microbiome interactions and leverage the resulting data to design live biotherapeutic products (LBPs), which can be used to create novel microbiome-based therapies that complement existing therapies and provide a safe method for targeting underlying disease processes with greater efficacy. The company's lead drug candidate, KAN-001, is an LBP demonstrating significant potential to improve outcomes for cancer patients who have been resistant to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). KAN-003 will be a consistent dose regimen that cancer patients can take just before and with ICI treatment.

ICI treatment is a type of immunotherapy that can help fight a variety of cancers, including malignant melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, classical Hodgkin lymphoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, urothelial carcinoma, and renal cell carcinoma. ICIs block checkpoint proteins from binding with their partners, which prevents the "off" signal from being sent to T cells and allows T cells to kill cancer cells. However, only 20 - 40% of patients respond to ICI therapy. For patients whose cancers don't respond to ICI treatment, intervening with a fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) is an alternative option. FMTs involve transferring a microbial ecosystem from a healthy individual into another person, often by colonoscopy. Still, FMT treatments are not commercially scalable, risk the transfer of pathogens and in most cases provide only a single dose.

To improve upon the effectiveness of FMTs, Kanvas has developed its own microbiome-based drug pipeline. With KAN-003, the company's goal is to dramatically increase the percentage of patients who respond to ICI therapy across all ICI-approved cancer types. Both KAN-001 and KAN-003 are currently undergoing preclinical studies in collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the institution's Platform for Innovative Microbiome and Translational Research (PRIME-TR). While KAN-003 is different from KAN-001 in terms of donor source and the microbial ecosystem, the two candidates' manufacturing strategies are identical, allowing Kanvas to synergize its learnings and scale to drug production quickly.

"As we've learned time and again, there's no single cure for cancer, but every cancer patient deserves safe and effective options. Designed as an earlier treatment option, KAN-003 may generate an earlier response and the chance to stabilize or send cancers into remission for ICI-naive patients," said Matthew Cheng, co-founder and CEO of Kanvas Biosciences. "We believe that the complex interaction of the gut microbiome with human health can be unlocked with a series of discrete, solvable steps, and FMT treatments have already revealed what's possible for microbiome-based therapeutics. With KAN-001 and now KAN-003, we're working to transform Immuno-oncology and patient lives."

Kanvas is currently preparing a pre-Investigational New Drug (IND) filing for KAN-003 for Q3 of 2025 and actively seeking additional partners interested in supporting rigorous clinical studies over the next few years. To learn more, contact the company directly.

About Kanvas Biosciences
Kanvas Biosciences is a spatial biology company building the world's first microbiome drug screening, discovery and manufacturing platform to accelerate the development of next generation live biotherapeutics. With an unparalleled ability to spatially map the microbiome and profile host gene expression, and manufacture complex consortia containing hundreds of members that can restore microbiome health, the company is uniquely positioned to develop novel therapeutics that can significantly improve the lives of all patients living with microbiome-associated diseases. Kanvas Biosciences' technology was initially developed at Cornell University and exclusively licensed. The company's notable investors include DCVC, Lions Capital LLC, FemHealth Ventures, Germin8, Ki Tua Fund, and Pangaea Ventures. Kanvas Biosciences is headquartered in Princeton, NJ. For more information, visit www.kanvasbio.com or follow the company on LinkedIn.

SOURCE Kanvas Biosciences