KAHR Receives Investment from Cancer Focus Fund to Support Phase 1/2 Study of KAHR's Lead Anti-CD47 Candidate in Blood Cancers

JERUSALEM and HOUSTON, May 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- KAHR, a clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy company developing novel bi-functional fusion proteins, and Cancer Focus Fund, LP, a unique venture capital fund established in collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson) to provide funding and clinical expertise to advance promising cancer therapies, today announced that Cancer Focus Fund is investing $5 million to finance a clinical trial of KAHR's lead anti-CD47 candidate, DSP107, in blood cancers.

The Cancer Focus Fund investment will support a Phase 1/2 clinical study assessing KAHR's first-in-class CD47x41BB targeting agent in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and T-cell lymphoproliferative diseases. Cancer Focus Fund is receiving a combination of equity and future payments from KAHR based on DSP107 achieving certain milestones.

"KAHR's multi-functional immuno-recruitment fusion proteins exemplify the innovative approach to cancer we seek to support," said Ross Barrett, a founder and Managing Partner of Cancer Focus Fund. "DSP107 uniquely delivers a multilayered attack by binding cancer cells and T-cells to produce a targeted synergistic effect, combining immune checkpoint inhibition with selective T-cell activation. It has demonstrated encouraging activity in preclinical models, and we welcome the opportunity to support its clinical assessment in blood cancers."

"We are honored to collaborate with Cancer Focus Fund, which has invested in KAHR and through its partnership with MD Anderson, contributed expertise in the planning of this Phase 1/2 clinical trial," said Yaron Pereg, PhD, CEO of KAHR. "This marks our second clinical study for DSP107, which is currently being investigated in a Phase 1/2 trial as monotherapy and in combination with Roche's PD-L1-blocking checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab (Tecentriq^®) in solid tumors. We look forward to expanding the clinical development program for our lead product and initiating this study in hematological malignancies in collaboration with MD Anderson."

The study will be conducted at MD Anderson under the direction of Naval Daver, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Leukemia. The two-part open label, dose escalation and expansion study is expected to enroll up to 112 patients. The first part will evaluate the safety, efficacy, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of DSP107 as monotherapy and in combination with azacytidine in patients with relapsed/refractory AML, MDS or chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). In the second part, the trial will assess the efficacy of DSP107 as monotherapy and in combination with azacytidine or with azacytidine plus venetoclax in patients with previously untreated AML or MDS, and in patients with relapsed/refractory MDS, CMML and T-cell lymphoproliferative diseases.

About DSP107
DSP107 is a first-in-class CD47x41BB targeting compound that simultaneously targets cancer cells, weakens their innate defenses and activates an effective, local response of both innate and adaptive immunity. DSP107 targets CD47-overexpressing tumors, simultaneously blocking macrophage inhibitory signals and delivering an immune costimulatory signal to tumor antigen-specific, activated T-cells. CD47 is overexpressed on many cancer cells and binds SIRPα on immune phagocytic cells to produce a "don't eat me" signal. DSP107 binds CD47 on cancer cells, blocking interaction with SIRPα and thus, blocking the "don't eat me signal". Simultaneously, DSP107 binds 41BB on T-cells, stimulating their activation. These activities lead to targeted immune activation through both macrophage and T-cell mediated tumor destruction.

About KAHR
KAHR is developing the next generation of immuno-oncology drug candidates for the treatment of multiple types of cancer. The Company's lead product, DSP107, is a first-in-class CD47x41BB targeting compound that simultaneously targets cancer cells, weakens their innate defenses and activates an effective, local response of both innate and adaptive immunity. KAHR's technology platform is based on multi-functional immuno-recruitment proteins (MIRP) that utilize overexpression of checkpoint antigens on cancer cells to selectively target and bind to the tumor. MIRPs bridge cancer cells to immune cells to produce a targeted synergistic effect by combining immune checkpoint inhibition with localized immune cell activation, unmasking cancer cell camouflage to enable innate immune response, while recruiting the adaptive immune system to bind and selectively kill the cancer cells. Investors in the Company include Flerie Invest AB, Oriella Limited a Consensus Business Group Limited subsidiary, Hadassit Bio Holdings, Pavilion Capital, Mirae Asset, Korean Investment Partners and DSC Investments. For more information, please visit kahrbio.com/.

About Cancer Focus Fund
The Cancer Focus Fund LP is a unique investment fund established in collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The fund provides investment support to advance promising cancer therapies that are close to being tested in humans, as well as the clinical trial expertise and infrastructure of MD Anderson and strategic partners Ochsner Health System Precision Cancer Therapies Program New Orleans and the LSU Feist Weiller Cancer Center Shreveport. The fund's objective is to leverage this unique combination to provide investors with superior risk-adjusted returns. Along with the fund's partner at MD Anderson, the Cancer Focus Fund provides both capital and translational research expertise with the goal of accelerating the development of novel cancer therapies that result in better outcomes for patients while generating returns for investors.

Disclosures
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's relationship with Cancer Focus Fund, and all research conducted at MD Anderson related to Cancer Focus Fund, has been identified as an institutional financial conflict of interest by MD Anderson's Institutional Conflict of Interest Committee and therefore is managed under an Institutional Conflict of Interest Management and Monitoring Plan.

 

SOURCE Cancer Focus Fund and KAHR

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