Johanna Holldack
CEO
Kupando GmbH
Kupando is a Berlin-based biopharmaceutical company developing TLR 4/7 agonists that activate the innate immune system to treat solid tumors and prevent infectious diseases. Their drug candidates offer a cost-effective immunotherapy solution with high specificity and potency, addressing the need for effective treatments in oncology and infectious disease prevention.
- Biotechnology
Updated 10 months ago
Funding
Raised to date
$12.6MRaised 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.
across 1 round
BKHTLPUF+1$12.6M · Series A
Announced Sep 2022
Disclosed cumulative: $12.6M
RoundDateAmountValuationInvestors
Founders
Product
Problem
Current cancer and infectious disease treatments often lack specificity and can be expensive, creating a need for more affordable and effective immunotherapies. Traditional approaches may not fully harness the potential of the innate immune system to combat these diseases.
Solution
Kupando is developing TLR 4/7 agonists, a class of immunotherapeutic drug candidates designed to activate the innate immune system to fight solid tumors and prevent infectious diseases. These agonists target Toll-Like Receptors (TLRs), which are responsible for detecting cancer and infection signature molecules, triggering a broad immune response. Kupando's lead candidate, KUP101, co-encapsulates TLR 4 and TLR 7 ligands in a liposomal formulation, offering various administration routes and applications. This approach aims to provide a cost-effective immunotherapy solution that can be used as a standalone treatment or in combination with other drugs, including checkpoint inhibitors, to achieve synergistic effects. The technology is designed to stimulate a CD8 cytotoxic immune response by recruiting dendritic cells and B cells to the tumor microenvironment.
Target Audience
The primary target audience includes oncology patients requiring systemic treatment for solid tumors, individuals at risk of infectious diseases, and vaccine developers seeking effective adjuvants.
Features
- Proprietary drug candidates that co-encapsulate TLR 4 and TLR 7 agonists in a single formulation.
- Designed for systemic treatment of solid tumors (tissue agnostic), prevention of infectious diseases, and as a vaccine adjuvant.
- Demonstrated synergistic/additive effect with checkpoint inhibitors in in vivo studies.
- High specificity for target with no relevant off-targets, enabling low-dose administration.
- Fast intracellular uptake for improved safety.
- IND-enabling work is ongoing for the treatment of solid tumors and the prevention of infectious diseases.