Harvey Berger
CEO
Kojin Therapeutics
Kojin develops targeted small-molecule therapeutics that modulate ferroptosis, a form of regulated cell death, to treat various cancers and degenerative diseases. By leveraging a drug discovery platform that integrates computational chemistry and mechanism-driven pharmacology, Kojin aims to address the limitations of existing therapies for ferroptosis-sensitive tumors.
- Biotechnology
Updated 23 months ago
Funding
Raised to date
$60MRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
Funding rounds are not available yet.
Founders
Product
Problem
Current cancer therapies often fail due to resistance mechanisms and the inability to selectively target cancer cells, leading to significant toxicity and limited efficacy. Ferroptosis, a form of regulated cell death, offers a novel approach to target cancer cells, but effective therapeutic modulation of this pathway remains a challenge.
Solution
Kojin Therapeutics is developing small-molecule therapeutics that modulate ferroptosis to treat cancers and degenerative diseases. Their drug discovery platform integrates computational chemistry, structural biology, chemical biology, target-informed screening, and mechanism-driven pharmacology to identify and develop first-in-class treatments. By targeting key components of the ferroptosis pathway, Kojin aims to induce or inhibit regulated cell death in specific disease contexts. Their lead program focuses on inhibiting glutamate-cysteine ligase (GCL) for solid tumors with high ferroptosis sensitivity, while other programs target different points in the ferroptosis pathway to address a spectrum of oncology and non-oncology indications.
Target Audience
The primary target audience includes patients with various forms of cancer, as well as cardiovascular, immunologic, hepatic, and degenerative diseases where ferroptosis modulation can provide therapeutic benefit.
Features
- Drug discovery platform integrating computational chemistry, structural biology, and mechanism-driven pharmacology
- Focus on small-molecule therapeutics that modulate ferroptosis
- Lead program targeting glutamate-cysteine ligase (GCL) for solid tumors
- Development of both ferroptosis inducers and inhibitors
- Pipeline includes programs targeting validated ferroptosis targets
- Addressing oncology indications with high ferroptosis sensitivity
- Pursuing additional disease pathologies where ferroptosis plays a critical role