Kitov acquires fellow Israeli firm to enter immuno-oncology field

Kitov Pharmaceuticals Holdings (TASE: KTOV) is expanding its pipeline through the acquisition of a majority stake in fellow Israel-based TyrNovo, a privately held developer of novel small molecules in the immuno-oncology therapeutic field.

The expansion into developing immuno-oncology drugs comes as Kitov plans to file its New Drug Application with the US Food and Drug Administration for its flagship combination drug, KIT-302, which is intended to treat osteoarthritis pain and hypertension simultaneously, in first-quarter 2017, with commercial launch anticipated for the first half of 2018. Kitov plans to harness its development and regulatory capabilities in proceeding towards submitting an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the US FDA and initiate clinical trials for its newly-acquired drug, NT219.

The market for immuno-oncology treatments is believed to become worth $14 billion by 2019 and to grow to $34 billion by 2024, driven by long-term and durable tumor responses to immuno-oncology drugs, according to Global Data.