Public Funding for Klas Therapeutics Limited

Klas Therapeutics Ltd. is a Northern Ireland based company founded in Feb. 2021\. The company has developed technology that is new and innovative for the treatment of non-resectable malignant melanoma (MM), the most aggressive form of skin cancer. The technology originates from research carried out at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Ulster University. Although MM represents less than 5% of skin cancers, it is responsible for 75% of skin cancer-related deaths. 16,000 new melanoma cases are diagnosed each year in the UK alone. Globally, 325,000 melanoma incidences occur annually with these figures set to rise. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and targeted treatments have revolutionised the treatment of MM, however, only approximately 50% of patients respond to ICIs and the heterogenous nature of these lesions prove hard for the targeted treatments to eradicate, demonstrating that a high unmet medical need remains for MM. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a light activated treatment currently approved in the UK for non- malignant melanoma. The benefits of PDT are reduced resistance, high efficacy, minimal systemic side effects, and minimal scarring. However, the highly pigmented nature of MM lesions has proven PDT ineffective for MM. Klas Therapeutics have developed KT-001, a novel innovative therapy that has unlocked the use of PDT for MM, providing MM patients with targeted treatment, close to 100% cellular death and 500% tumour growth reduction. This project follows on from the successful Innovate UK market discovery programme 'Innovation to commercialisation of University research'(ICURe), with a comprehensive package of work to increase both the technology and investor readiness level of this innovative discovery, increasing the likelihood of ultimate patient benefit.

Melanoma, or skin cancer, is the 5th most common cancer in both men and women and kills more than 6 people each day in the UK alone. In the last decade, immunotherapies have shown great promise in treating this disease, but with just over 50% of patients respond to this treatment. With a price-tag running at 100's of thousands of pounds for treatment per patient and a relatively high number of serious adverse effects, there is a clear unmet clinical need for new alternative treatments. KLAS therapeutics offers a unique solution to this, by providing an alternative therapy for this cancer that can be used both independently and in combination with current treatments. Our technology works by utilising a process known as photodynamic therapy (PDT). Light is used to activate our compound, known as KLAS-PDT, which then converts otherwise harmless oxygen into a hyper reactive form that kills the cancer cells. By stimulating the body's immune system, KLAS-PDT can be combined with existing immunotherapies leading to significantly reduced cost and improved patient outcomes. This project seeks to enhance the commercialisation of this exciting new technology, by generating a data package that will confirm the optimal parameters for light activation and dosing regimen. Rendering the technology closer to achieving actual patient benefit while at the same time developing new methods that can be carried forward and translated for the analysis of our eventual clinical data.