Gilead Supports Cell Therapy Biotech Kyverna

Gilead Sciences has been a part of Kyverna Therapeutics’ path as a startup since the beginning, and the Big Pharma has now aided the cell therapy company in raising $85 million in preparation for a clinic debut this year. Northpond Ventures led the round B fundraising, although also received funding from RTW Investments, Vida Ventures, and others. Intellia, which recently announced an agreement with Kyverna to research medicines for autoimmune illnesses utilising the gene editing biotech’s CRISPR/Cas9 platform, is another name that stands out on the list.

Kyverna, a company that focuses on autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, plans to utilise the funding to push KYV-101 into clinical trials for diseases like lupus nephritis, systemic sclerosis, and inflammatory myopathies. KYV-101 is an anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) treatment designed to treat autoimmune disorders caused by B cells. In the first part of this year, the therapy is scheduled to be available in clinics.

Kyverna recent Intellia cooperation will also benefit from the funding.said the funds will go toward the development of KYV-201 in B-cell-driven autoimmune illnesses, which will be done with the use of Intellia’s ex vivo CRISPR/Cas9-based allogeneic platform and CD19 CAR-T construct. When the deal was announced earlier this month, neither company disclosed the financial details.

The biotech began operations in 2020 with a $25 million series A funding round. The company had announced a strategic alliance with Gilead Sciences to develop modified T-cell treatments for autoimmune disorders at the time. Gilead paid $17.5 million up front, with an additional $570 in research and commercialization milestones for Kyverna likely in the future.