Kleo Pharmaceuticals Announces a CD38 Targeting Antibody Recruiting Molecule (ARM™) to Treat Multiple Myeloma as the First Clinical Candidate in its Partnership with PeptiDream

NEW HAVEN, Conn., June 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Kleo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Kleo), an immuno-oncology company developing next-generation synthetic bispecific compounds designed to emulate or enhance the activity of biologics, announced today that CD38-ARM, a CD38 targeting antibody recruiting molecule (ARM™) to treat multiple myeloma, will be its first product candidate to move into the clinic with anticipated human studies to commence in 2020.  

CD38-ARM is designed to recruit endogenous antibodies to multiple myeloma cancer cells, targeting them for destruction by natural killer (NK) cells and macrophages. CD38 is a validated multiple myeloma target, which is also overexpressed in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and other cancers. The molecule was chosen after showing positive signals towards safety and efficacy in preclinical models. This is the first candidate to emerge from Kleo's strategic alliance with PeptiDream Inc., (Tokyo:4587).

"We're excited to announce CD38-ARM as the first clinical candidate for Kleo, which is also the first clinical candidate resulting from our collaboration agreement with PeptiDream," said Douglas Manion, MD, CEO of Kleo. "PeptiDream's PDPS technology and Kleo's ARM platform together have created a product candidate we intend to advance into the clinic next year. CD38-ARM is being developed to enhance, complement or replace currently marketed anti-CD38 multiple myeloma drugs through better safety and efficacy. We are hopeful CD38-ARM will be the first of a series of novel clinical candidates to emerge from our innovative development platforms."

"PeptiDream takes great pride in being a strong leader in transforming peptides into new effective treatment options using our Peptide Discovery Platform System (PDPS)," stated Patrick Reid, PhD, CEO of PeptiDream. "We are pleased to partner with Kleo in CD38-ARM's advancement into the clinic recognizing its potential in becoming the next generation of first-in-class and best-in-class immunotherapies."  

About Kleo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 
Kleo Pharmaceuticals is a unique immuno-oncology company developing next-generation synthetic bispecific compounds designed to emulate or enhance the activity of biologics. Similar to complex biologic drugs, Kleo's compounds recruit the immune system to destroy cancer cells, with the advantage of being smaller and more versatile, leading to potentially improved safety and efficacy over biologics. They are also much faster and less costly to design and produce, particularly against novel targets. The company is advancing several drug candidates based on its proprietary technology platforms, all of which are modular in design and enable rapid generation of novel immunotherapies that can be optimized against certain cancers, or enhance the properties of existing immunotherapies. These include Antibody Recruiting Molecules (ARMs), Synthetic Antibody Mimics (SyAMs) and Monoclonal Antibody Therapy Enhancers (MATEs). For more information visit http://kleopharmaceuticals.com.

About PeptiDream
PeptiDream Inc. is a public (Tokyo Stock Exchange 1st Section 4587) biopharmaceutical company founded in 2006 employing our proprietary Peptide Discovery Platform System (PDPS), a state-of-the-art highly versatile discovery platform which enables the production of highly diverse (trillions) non-standard peptide libraries with high efficiency, for the identification of highly potent and selective hit candidates, which then can be developed into peptide-based, small molecule-based, or peptide-drug-conjugate-based therapeutics. PeptiDream aspires to be a world leader in drug discovery and development to address unmet medical needs and improve the quality of life of patients worldwide. Further information regarding PeptiDream can be found at: http://www.peptidream.com

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SOURCE Kleo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.