The growing market for immunotherapy treatments isn’t just focused on cancer. Seattle biotech Kineta just landed a federal contract from the National Institutes of Health for about $4 million to develop an immunotherapy treatment which would treat a variety of infectious diseases, such as the flu, dengue fever, Ebola and others. Kineta develops drugs for chronic pain, autoimmune and infectious diseases.
The funding will be used to bring a specific drug candidate to the pre-clinical stage, with the goal of eventually advancing it through clinical trials. What’s unique about the drug Kineta is developing that, unlike a typical anti-viral, this won’t focus on killing the virus. Instead, the immunotherapy drug — taken as a pill — flips a switch in your immune system if you have the flu, for example. The drug then boosts your immune system response and keeps the switch flipped on until you overcome the disease. That also means the tricky problem of diseases building up a resistance to drugs becomes almost a non-issue with these treatments.
Immunotherapy is something many biotech investors have had their eyes on in recent years. Seattle biotech Juno Therapeutics is developing hugely promising immunotherapy treatments for cancer, and many other companies in the Puget Sound region and elsewhere are also getting into the immunotherapy space. Bringing this type of treatment to infectious diseases might attract investors, too. “People are hearing that term (immunotherapy) a lot with cancer,” said Meg O’Conor, corporate development director at Kineta. “The immune system is capable of fighting off all sorts of things. It’s a wider topic than just oncology.”
The contract will give Kineta $1.4 million in the short-term and $2.5 million over the next two to three years after meeting key milestones in drug development. Landing an NIH contract also gives Kineta more scientific credibility, which Bedard said is good for financial backers. “It’s a huge advantage to our investors at Kineta that at the early stage program we can raise this non-dilutive funding,” said Kristin Bedard, director of Kineta’s virology program. “If we can raise these types of federal contracts, private investors will see a better return.” Aside from drug development, Kineta also aims to change the risky landscape of biotech investment so that more investors will get involved in the industry. That’s a huge issue in Washington state, where investors shy away from biotech because of how long it takes to see a return on investment and the high level of risk.
