Yibin Kang, PhD, chairs Scientific Advisory Board that includes experts in translational and early-phase clinical development activities
Seattle, WA — October 22, 2024, Kayothera, Inc., a preclinical-stage therapeutics company developing first-in-class, oral, small molecule inhibitors of the retinoid nuclear receptor pathway, announced the expansion of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to support the development of its first-in-class, oral, small molecule inhibitors of the retinoid nuclear receptor pathway.
Chaired by Yibin Kang, PhD, Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Molecular Biology at the Ludwig Institute of Princeton University, the SAB will work closely with Kayothera’s executive team to provide strategic guidance and expert insights to advance its mission of creating the best therapies to treat serious and life-threatening diseases.
Kayothera’s SAB includes the following members:
- Domenico Accili, MD, the Russell Berrie Foundation Professor of Diabetes at Columbia University and the Director of the Columbia University Diabetes Research Center. Dr. Accili is the 2017 Banting Medal Recipient and is highly recognized for his pioneering work on beta cell failure in type 2 diabetes. Dr. Accili pioneered the theory of pancreatic islet dedifferentiation and identified ALDH1a3 as a key marker of diseased pancreatic islets.
- Shridar Ganesan, PhD/MD, a prominent physician-scientist and medical oncologist at the NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center, where he serves as the Director for the Center for Molecular Oncology and Professor of Medicine. Dr. Ganesan is well-known for pioneering breast cancer research and guides Kayothera’s early clinical program in oncology.
- Suzanne George, MD, a renowned clinical expert in sarcoma, serving as the clinical director of the Center for Sarcoma and Bone Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School; Dr. George has extensive expertise in soft tissue sarcoma, bone sarcomas, and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST); and
- Kendall Mohler, PhD, was previously co-founder and chief scientific officer at Trubion Pharmaceuticals, the founding CSO at Juno Therapeutics, and a senior leader at Immunex, where he played a key role in the development of Enbrel (etanercept).
“I am truly excited to collaborate with this exceptional team at Kayothera,” said Dr. Kang. “The collective expertise and experience of our Scientific Advisory Board members will be crucial as we push the frontiers of innovation. Together, we are set to make significant progress in developing first-in-class, oral, small-molecule inhibitors of the retinoid nuclear receptor pathway. I eagerly anticipate the profound impact we will have on treating serious and life-threatening diseases.”
About Kayothera. Kayothera, Inc. is an early-stage therapeutics company focused on the development of first-in-class, oral, small-molecule inhibitors of the retinoid nuclear receptor pathway. This pathway is pathogenically activated in several cancers as well as multiple cardiometabolic diseases, including diabetes and obesity. Kayothera is developing three distinct therapies, with KAYO-1732 in development as a disease-modifying treatment that controls blood glucose and lipid levels to prevent multiorgan degeneration in cardiometabolic syndrome and diabetes. KAYO-1609 has completed IND-enabling studies and is in development to treat late-stage and metastatic cancers, including pancreatic, prostate, gastric, and multiple other cancers. Kayothera is also developing a next-generation obesity therapy based on a genetically validated target in the retinoid nuclear receptor pathway. The company was founded based on discoveries from Dr. Mark Esposito’s post-doctoral research at Princeton University and Professor Yibin Kang, PhD. For more information, visit www.kayothera.com.