KSQ Therapeutics and Takeda Expand Strategic Immuno-Oncology Collaboration to Identify and Validate Novel Tumor Targets

Expanded collaboration focused on novel target discovery and validation to inform the development of targeted therapies that address resistance mechanisms in patients with cancer

Agreement expands the companies’ successful ongoing collaboration focused on discovering natural killer (NK) and T-cell targets

LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KSQ Therapeutics, (“KSQ”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cancer therapies using its proprietary CRISPRomics^® discovery platform, announced today that it has expanded its strategic collaboration with Takeda to research and validate novel tumor-intrinsic targets. Under the terms of the agreement, Takeda will provide KSQ with an upfront payment and an investment in the double-digit millions of dollars. KSQ is also eligible to receive up to $510 million in future payments if all milestones are achieved during the term of the agreement, plus royalties on potential net sales of any commercial product resulting from the collaboration.

“Expanding on our successful partnership with Takeda further validates the effectiveness of the CRISPRomics platform in discovering exciting, novel targets in various cell types across modalities,” said Qasim Rizvi, Chief Executive Officer of KSQ. "It also demonstrates KSQ’s ability to deliver results – our original collaboration, initiated in 2021 and focused on the discovery of novel NK cell and T cell-based targets, has already achieved several research milestones.”

“We are encouraged by KSQ’s CRISPRomics platform and its ability to perform in vivo genetic screens for the discovery and validation of tumor targets, which have the potential to modulate the innate and adaptive immune system,” said Kathy Seidl, Head, Oncology Drug Discovery Unit at Takeda. “We look forward to expanding our ongoing collaboration to identify novel targets that affect the sensitivity of tumors to immune cell-mediated death in the tumor microenvironment.”

About KSQ Therapeutics

KSQ Therapeutics is advancing a pipeline of tumor- and immune-focused drug candidates to treat cancer across multiple drug modalities, including targeted therapies, adoptive cell therapies, and immunotherapies. KSQ's proprietary CRISPRomics^® discovery engine enables genome-scale, in vivo validated, unbiased drug discovery across broad therapeutic areas. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.ksqtx.com and follow @ksq_tx on Twitter.