Trethera Corporation and KYAN Therapeutics announce collaboration to develop artificial intelligence-driven optimization of solid cancer combination therapy

LOS ANGELES and SINGAPORE, Oct. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Trethera Corporation (Trethera), a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing novel drugs targeting cellular nucleotide metabolism for the treatment of cancer, and KYAN Therapeutics, an artificial intelligence-based drug development firm, announced an agreement to collaborate on preclinical studies evaluating up to four different tumor types beginning this year leveraging their unique expertise to develop best-in-class combination therapies addressing unmet needs in solid tumors.   

Under the agreement both companies will evaluate the solid tumor responses to various novel combination therapies and dosing seen with Trethera's compound TRE-515.  "This venture  helps Trethera to intelligently and efficiently explore the utility of our IND approved drug TRE-515 across a wide range of tumors, doses, and drug combinations," said Kenneth A. Schultz, M.D., Trethera's Executive Chairman. "Our team is excited about developing the first therapeutic to target the salvage pathway of nucleotide synthesis, a metabolic pathway that may contribute to the progression of a variety of tumors."

Founded by highly regarded UCLA faculty, Trethera focuses on pathways controlling cancer nucleotide metabolism.  TRE-515, a first-in-class inhibitor of deoxycytidine kinase (dCK), is an orally administered small molecule that has demonstrated activity in preclinical models treating a variety of tumors, both in monotherapy and when in combination with certain FDA approved drugs.

KYAN was initiated by a team of visionary leaders from NUS and UCLA that has successfully taken its proprietary portfolio of AI platforms through clinical validation. By uniquely demonstrating that globally optimized efficacy and safety can be achieved at each stage of drug development, from in vitro through preclinical and clinical validation, KYAN's technology systematically identifies AI-driven novel drug combinations that are realized independently from conventional approaches. KYAN's deterministic approach has led to scientific success within multiple indications tackled to date, in globally optimizing drug combinations for both composition and dosage. As such, KYAN collaborations may accelerate a biopharma company's pathway towards first-in-man studies.

"KYAN is thrilled to be embarking alongside Trethera on this exciting collaboration," said Dean Ho, Ph.D., KYAN Co-Founder. "Trethera's research team has deep experience within DNA synthesis pathways and oncology therapeutic discoveries.  Combining TRE-515 with KYAN's powerful AI optimization platforms may lead to best-in-class drug combinations that improve solid cancer treatments," added Ho.

About TRE-515
TRE-515 is a first-in-class preclinical drug that inhibits deoxycytidine kinase (dCK), the rate-limiting enzyme in the deoxyribonucleoside salvage pathway, one of two biosynthetic pathways that generate the DNA precursors, the other being the de novo pathway.  Certain cancer cells may appear preferentially dependent on the salvage pathway for nucleotides to support tumor growth. Trethera has developed TRE-515 for use as monotherapy or in combination with de novo pathway inhibitors, to precisely target a metabolic vulnerability of these cancer cells. This approach holds the potential to improve treatment efficacy and minimize the development of drug resistance. 

About Trethera Corporation
Trethera is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing novel treatments for cancers with high unmet needs. For more information, visit trethera.com.

About KYAN Therapeutics, Inc.
KYAN Therapeutics is a clinical-stage artificial intelligence company leveraging its proprietary technology platforms to transform the way patients are treated and therapies are developed. KYAN is able to revolutionize the drug development and dosage optimization processes and has multiple pipeline combination therapies in development for oncology and infectious diseases. KYAN de-risks and  dramatically accelerates the drug development process, identifying novel combination therapies with unprecedented efficacy and safety. KYAN's clinically-validated platforms are uniquely disease mechanism and indication agnostic.

Note on Forward-Looking Statements 

All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that Trethera or KYAN  expect, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Although Trethera and KYAN believe that Trethera and KYAN have a reasonable basis for the forward-looking statements contained herein, Trethera and KYAN caution that such statements are based on current expectations about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and factors relating to medical research, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond their control, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release. These potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the extent to which the joint research to be conducted by Trethera and KYAN pursuant to the Development Collaboration Agreement will result in the development of any novel cancer therapies; and whether Trethera would obtain the necessary regulatory approvals to commence human trials or commercialize TRE-515 or any novel therapies resulting from such research.  You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this press release, which speak only as of the date hereof. Trethera and KYAN do not undertake any obligation to update, amend or clarify these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities law.

SOURCE Trethera Corporation