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Kezar co-founder Christopher Kirk, Ph.D. began his work on the unique function of the immunoproteasome at Proteolix in 2005, while working on the compound that would become the successful multiple myeloma drug KYPROLIS™ (carfilzomib). As VP of Research at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, which acquired Proteolix in 2009, Christopher led the efforts to develop the first selective inhibitors of the immunoproteasome and designed multiple studies demonstrating their profound immunomodulatory effects. In parallel with this work, Christopher and Kezar co-founder Jack Taunton, Ph.D. collaborated on several research projects involving protein secretion. This collaboration inspired a belief in the strong synergies between protein degradation and protein secretion, two fertile areas for drug discovery with platform potential. In 2014, Christopher and Kezar co-founder John Fowler began developing the business plan for Kezar, acting on a longstanding desire to work together and build a world-class company. In 2015, John and Christopher raised $23M and negotiated a worldwide, exclusive license agreement with Amgen for the Onyx immunoproteasome inhibitor patent estate. Now underway, John and Christopher are excited to leverage their complementary skill sets to build Kezar into a leader in small molecule drug development.
Trans Ova Genetics is a Sioux Center, IA-based company in the Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech sector.
Athersys is a Cleveland, OH-based company in the Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech sector.
IMetrikus, Inc. is a Sunnyvale, CA-based company in the Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech sector.
Cognate BioServices is a leading contract development and manufacturing organization specialized in cell and cell-mediated gene therapies. We pride ourselves in the level of quality and experience we bring to the table. Cognate is a dynamic, results-driven, organization focused on providing the broadest range of commercialization services to regenerative medicine, cellular immunotherapy and advance cell therapy companies, organizations and institutions. Cognate provides a unique combination of custom services to companies across all points of clinical and commercial development ranging from early preclinical studies, to mid phase trials and product scale-up though later stage clinical trials and bridging into commercial manufacturing. Cognate applies the know-how and expertise of its business, scientific and technical teams to successfully develop autologous and allogeneic products across multiple cell-based technology platforms from start to finish.