Kuros secures more than 170 million US dollars

The biotech company Kuros Biosciences based in Schlieren in the canton of Zurich is receiving considerable financial resources for the validation and commercialization of its product candidate vidutolimod (CMP-001) to treat melanomas and other types of cancer. According to a company press release, the American company Xoma has taken over part of the existing licensing agreement of Checkmate Pharmaceuticals. The new agreements state that Kuros will receive 7 million US dollars from Xoma in advance. The company supports biotech firms with further developing their clinical drug candidates.

Furthermore, a payment of up to 24 million US dollars has been agreed with Checkmate at precommercial milestones. The company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, works on immunotherapies to fight cancer. Checkmate is conducting several clinical trials, including two phase 2 trials for the indication of melanoma. Checkmate has already achieved two milestones for this at the start of the year amounting to 2 and 4 million US dollars. This brings Checkmate’s milestone payments to Kuros to a total of 13 million US dollars this year alone.

Furthermore, the licensing agreement grants potential sales-related milestone payments from Xoma to Kuros amounting to 142.5 million US dollars. According to Kuros CEO Joost de Bruijn, the first transaction that has now been completed provides the company with “a unique opportunity for Kuros to secure meaningful capital, while keeping significant downstream payment potential upon successful development of vidutolimod by Checkmate.” He goes on to add that the proceeds will enable Kuros to further invest in its core business, “including commercialization of our MagnetOs bone graft and the clinical development of Fibrin-PTH, which is a substantial commercial opportunity.”

Kuros Biosciences AG is a spin-off from the University of Zurich (UZH) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH). The company is headquartered at the Bio-Technopark Schlieren-Zürich.