Ono Pharmaceutical to Acquire Multiple Research-Stage Oncology Programs Identified with KSQ’s CRISPRomics

KSQ Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapies to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases using its proprietary, integrated discovery CRISPRomics platform, announced today that Ono Pharmaceutical has acquired multiple research-stage DNA damage response (DDR) programs identified using KSQ’s CRISPRomics platform technology. All the programs are novel and have the potential to become first-in-class therapies.

“This acquisition of multiple research-stage oncology programs by ONO is further validation of the power of our platform to identify novel oncology targets and develop potential first-in-class programs,” said Qasim Rizvi, Chief Executive Officer of KSQ. “This is an important transaction for KSQ, enabling us to focus on our other programs. We look forward to watching ONO’s progress as they advance these programs toward clinical studies.”

“ONO appreciates the ability of KSQ’s CRISPRomics platform technology to discover novel therapeutic targets with high selectivity for cancer cells,” said Toichi Takino, Senior Executive Officer/Executive Director, Discovery & Research of ONO. “Through this acquisition agreement, we expect that the programs acquired from KSQ will lead to the creation of innovative medicines that will help treat cancer patients.”

Under the terms of the agreement, ONO will provide KSQ a double-digit million upfront and potential near-term milestone payments with potential long-term value into the triple-digit millions as well as royalties based on net sales.