Kineta pens I-O research and license deal worth up to $520 million

Seattle-based Kineta Immuno-Oncology (KIO), a subsidiary of privately-held biotech firm Kineta Inc, has entered into a strategic research collaboration with US pharma giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) to develop RIG-I agonist immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer.

The agreement grants to Pfizer the exclusive rights to KIO's RIG-I screening platform and related compounds and technologies. The companies will collaborate to develop and test small molecule agonists that target RIG-I, an innate immunostimulatory pathway that can elicit immunogenic cell death (ICD) in tumors, providing both direct tumor cell killing and enhanced anti-tumor immune responses.

In preclinical models, Kineta's RIG-I agonists have demonstrated complete tumor regression and an increase in tumor-specific T cells when given as a monotherapy. Additionally, the compounds have demonstrated synergistic effects when used in combination with other immunotherapies like checkpoint inhibitors. Kineta's proprietary approach is part of an internally developed discovery program focused on innate immune drug targets in cancer. The lead program is focused on the RIG-I pathway, which is differentiated from other innate immune-targeted immunotherapies as its compounds are small molecule drugs with the potential for oral and systemic administration.