Life science incubator backs precision medicine biotech

An early-stage precision medicine biotech has received backing to help it develop companion diagnostic technologies for cancer therapies.

Kinomica received funding from life science incubator BioCity via the Innovate UK Precision Medicine Investment Accelerator.

A spin-out of Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, Kinomica develops technologies for companion diagnostics (CDx) and therapeutic development in precision medicines.

The company has developed a suite of bioinformatics and phosphoproteomic analytical methods to directly measure multiple endogenous kinases – enzymes found within cells that regulate the biological activity of proteins.

The company is working in collaboration with pharma companies to improve the monitoring of drug efficacy and response, as well as discovering novel biomarkers to support patient stratification within clinical trials. Kinomica states its original intent is to focus on the field of oncology but is interested in other therapeutic areas.

Claire Brown, director of investment for BioCity, said: "We believe Kinomica are at the forefront of a new area. While genomic approaches have been successful in allowing the stratifying of patients, increasingly, understanding the molecular ‘re-wiring’ of tumours, such as that provided by KinoScan, is critical. Kinomica provides unique insights that Pharma will be able to leverage, as evidenced by the traction already made to date with key partners in this sector."

Jane Theaker Kinomica CEO commented: "We are really excited that our Pharma customers and investors see the value of cell-signal profiling to gain insights that have a huge positive impact on patients lives. Our proprietary proteomics algorithms and database allows us to better identify drug targets, personalise drug treatments and develop diagnostics. While the genomics revolution in personalised medicine was driven by NGS, our KinoScan technology is proteomic next-generation sequencing."