Pyxis Oncology and Alloy Biotech New JV

Pyxis Oncology has a lot on its plate with three antibody-drug conjugates in the works, so it’s launched a new joint venture with Alloy Therapeutics named Kyma Therapeutics to pursue even more cancer and autoimmune disease targets. Pyxis has leveraged intellectual property from Pfizer for two of its three prospects, and the new venture will focus on immune-modulating targets chosen by Pyxis.

While Pyxis focuses on cancer, Kyma plans to expand its therapeutic portfolio to include autoimmune illnesses. The new business will be jointly funded and serviced by both companies. Using Alloy’s drug discovery technology, notably the ATX-Gx mouse platform, which promises to make research quicker and cheaper, the business will create therapeutic candidates for Kyma to accelerate. Pyxis will develop assays and research the candidates that result.

According to Alloy and Pyxis Oncology, the candidates will be developed to a “value-inflection point,” at which point they will be eligible for independent funding and collaboration with other pharmaceutical companies. Both firms will have specific rights to participate in developing and selling any Kyma products that result from the partnership.

Alloy CEO and founder Errik Anderson said, “This joint venture combines Pyxis’ proprietary target discovery technology and expertise with Alloy’s high throughput antibody discovery engine, enabling the rapid development of high-impact immune-modulating therapeutics for underserved patient populations.”

Both Alloy and Pyxis Oncology are early-stage biotechs that have raised money through various rounds of funding. Alloy just raised $75 million in a Series C round to expand its drug development platform in Lexington, Massachusetts. Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, has backed Pyxis through a licensing agreement and participation in a $152 million Series B funding round. The pharmaceutical giant has several leaders, including CEO Lara Sullivan, M.D.