Our history
Today, Iksuda Therapeutics is a clinical-stage ADC drug development company with presence in the UK and the US, but it began its life as a platform technology-focused UK spin put.
Iksuda Therapeutics Ltd (formerly Glythera Ltd) was founded in 2007 through a co-investment agreement between the University of Bath and the Life Science Investment team at IP Group Plc. This investment supported the development of its PermaLink® (Stable bioconjugation) and PermaCarb® (Fluorinated Sialic Acid half-life extension) technologies.
In 2012 Iksuda completed a transformational £2m investment which allowed the Company to refocus its research activities on the development of Antibody Drug Conjugates.
Iksuda focused on validating its bioconjugation chemistry platform in ADC formats and then began to build a toolbox of enabling technologies including known & novel payloads and novel linker formats, as well as laying the foundations of prodrug approaches via tumor-selective triggers to improve ADC therapeutic index.
In 2018, Iksuda formerly transitioned to an ADC development company through the initiation of its Folate Receptor program (IKS012) and expanded its development capabilities and access to experts through its US (Boston, MA) operations. Iksuda’s mission was to design and develop class-leading, next generation ADCs, with the potential for clinically meaningful differentiation over in-clinic and on-market comparators.
In 2020, through its partnership with LegoChem BioSciences, (LCB), the Company in-licensed an anti-CD19 ADC program (now IKS03) and gained access to LCBs ConjuAll platform for multiple targets. Subsequently, Iksuda added LCBs HER2-directed ADC (now IKS014) to its later-stage ADC portfolio and commenced a CA242-directed ADC program for GI tumors.
The Company completed a $47m Series A financing in 2021 to support (i) development of its lead programs through IND and into early clinical development, (ii) expansion of its ADC asset portfolio and (iii) building an early-stage ADC pipeline.
Today, through the differentiation that is underpinned by its multi-platform approach to ADC design and tumor-selective payload activation & release, Iksuda’s experts have created an “ADC engine” to build a broad portfolio of class-leading opportunities and generate clinical proof of concept through our in-house programs and with our Biotech and Pharma partners.
