Yukin Therapeutics Secures €3.3M Funding to Advance Novel NIK Kinase Inhibitor for Cancer Therapy

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) learned from foreign media that on June 4, French cancer treatment company Yukin Therapeutics announced the completion of a new round of financing amounting to €3.3 million (approximately $3.7 million). This round was co-led by Addvent France Biotechnology and Medicxi. It is reported that Yukin Therapeutics will use these funds to develop its proprietary drugs for cancer treatment.

Yukin Therapeutics is a young startup spun off from biotechnology and cancer therapy research at Université Côte d’Azur. Founded by researchers specializing in drug development, the company is dedicated to applying first-in-class NIK kinase inhibitors to targeted tumor therapies. Yukin Therapeutics holds two patented technologies, which are jointly owned by Université Côte d’Azur, the Nice University Hospital Center (CHU de Nice), and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), and have been licensed to Yukin Therapeutics by SATT Sud-Est (the technology transfer accelerator for southeastern France).

NIK protein kinase inhibitors are well known for their favorable anticancer efficacy demonstrated in clinical trials across various cancers. Kinases are proteins involved in numerous physiological processes, including cell proliferation, and play a critical role in cellular carcinogenesis; dysregulation of kinase activity can lead to the development of cancer.

Yukin Therapeutics specializes in the development of kinase inhibitors targeting NIK (NF-κB-inducing kinase). NIK is a well-established therapeutic target for combating cancer cell aggressiveness. The NIK kinase inhibitors developed by Yukin Therapeutics, based on pharmacological principles, effectively suppress NIK kinase activity and have demonstrated significant curative potential in various cancers, including skin cancer and pancreatic cancer.

The efficacy of NIK kinase inhibitors has been demonstrated in animal models conducted by Yukin Therapeutics. Animals treated with NIK kinase inhibitors exhibited a significant reduction in tumor volume and showed synergistic effects when combined with administration of PD-1–specific antibodies (the standard of care in immuno-oncology). Furthermore, the inhibitor profoundly modulates the tumor microenvironment, enabling the immune system to better recognize and destroy cancer cells.

Dr. Rachid Benhida, co-founder of Yukin Therapeutics, stated: “Yukin Therapeutics’ top priority is to design and develop anticancer molecules with novel, first-in-class mechanisms of action, translating research into clinical applications through disruptive innovation to benefit cancer patients who have failed prior therapies.”

“We are grateful for the continued support from Advent France Biotechnology and Medicxi, which enables Yukin Therapeutics to accelerate the development of anti-cancer molecules,” commented Arnaud Foussat, CEO of Yukin Therapeutics. “The unique mechanism of action of our NIK kinase inhibitor will be pivotal in developing new therapies and benefiting a large number of cancer patients. We aim to combine it with standard immunotherapies to evaluate the efficacy of our molecule.”

It is reported that Yukin Therapeutics plans to initiate clinical trials for its first candidate drug in 2022.

Advent France Biotechnology, established in 2016, is a company regulated by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF). Managed by Alain Huriez and Matthieu Coutet, the company boasts a team of seasoned professionals from diverse backgrounds with extensive expertise in science, healthcare, and operations, along with a proven long-term track record of successful investments in Europe.

Medicxi was founded by the former life sciences team at Index Ventures and focuses on making consecutive investments across the entire healthcare industry. The firm recently launched two new funds, Medicxi Ventures 1 (MV1) and Medicxi Growth 1 (MG1), which target early-stage and late-stage investments in life sciences companies, respectively.

(Compiled by Wang Chan)