Kinnate Buys Back $24 Million Worth Of Shares From China Venture Kinnjiu

Kinnate Biopharma, a San Francisco-based clinical-stage precision oncology company, has announced the acquisition of ownership stake in its China joint venture Kinnjiu Biopharma Inc. 

The transaction covers $24 million worth of preferred shares from funds managed by Series A investors OrbiMed and Foresite Capital Management. To make the acquisition possible, Kinnate drew funds from its cash reserves and shares of its common stock. 

Nima Farzan, CEO of Kinnate, commented, “We believe retaining the Kinnjiu structure will enable Kinnate to continue to invest in innovation and clinical development of its kinase inhibitors in the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.”

According to Kinnate, the transaction will not affect Kinnate’s cash runway, while its current assets are expected to last into mid-2024. As of September 30, 2022, Kinnate holds a total of $262.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, excluding cash from Kinnjiu. 

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Initiating Phase 1 for Kinase Inhibitor Exafarenib

Formed in 2021, the joint venture Kinnjiu focuses on developing and commercializing Kinnate’s lead kinase inhibitors in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan regions. 

One of these kinase inhibitors is the pan-RAF inhibitor, exafarenib (KIN-2787 or KN-8701). Kinnate has announced the start of a Phase 1 clinical trial (for the regions mentioned above) for exafarenib in patients with advanced solid tumors harboring BRAF Class I, II, and III alterations, and/or have the NRAS mutation melanoma. 

The trial will enroll patients at more than 30 sites across the globe, and will evaluate exafarenib in two parts — dose escalation and dose expansion. In dose escalation Part A1, exafarenib will be administered as a monotherapy, while the drug will be combined with binimetinib, a MEK inhibitor, in Part A2. In Part B (dose expansion), exafarenib will be evaluated at a selected dose in cancers driven by BRAF Class II or Class III alterations. 

Exafarenib was granted Fast Track designation by the US FDA for stage IIb-IV melanoma in September 2022, adding to its status as an orphan drug. 

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Joy Lin

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