Jasper and Kira merge to build immune-focused biotech
Jeet Mahal, Jasper's chief executive, will retain the same role when the merger goes through.
Faced with the prospect of running out of cash, Jasper Therapeutics has merged with Kira Pharma to create a larger, immunology-focused biotech bolstered by $132 million in new financing.
Nasdaq-listed Jasper, which went public in 2021 via a reverse merger with a blank-cheque company, hit a major hurdle last year when manufacturing problems with its main asset, anti-KIT antibody briquilimab, disrupted trials in lead indications chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) and asthma.
Despite signs of efficacy in a phase 1/2 study, the development programme for briquilimab was narrowed, and all other R&D operations were suspended, leading the company to jettison half of its staff – including its chief medical officer – and seek "strategic alternatives."
That has now resulted in a takeover of Kira, which was founded in 2020 to develop drugs targeting the complement system, and will contribute two drugs to the pipeline of the combined company, which will continue to operate as Jasper Therapeutics and retain its JSPT Nasdaq ticker.
Along with continuing work on briquilimab in "multiple transplant and immunologic indications," the expanded company will develop KP-104 (vensobafusp alfa), a dual-complement inhibitor in phase 1/2 for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH), and KP-701, a preclinical-stage anti-CD79BxCD32B antibody for autoantibody-mediated disorders that should have phase 1 data in the third quarter of 2027.
Two other Kira candidates – long-acting anti-C5a antibody KP-301 and small-molecule C5a receptor antagonist KP-402 – will be licensed to Mirador Therapeutics for an upfront fee of $12 million plus development and sales milestone payments.
That cash injection, combined with the $132 million private placement co-led by Affinity Asset Advisors and Ikarian Capital, will provide Jasper with sufficient funding to last it through the second half of 2028, according to a joint statement. The company ended the first quarter of this year with just $14 million in cash.
Jeet Mahal, Jasper's chief executive, will retain the same role when the merger goes through, while the chief financial officer role will stay with Jasper's Herb Cross. On the R&D side, Kira's chief medical officer Greg Keenan and head of R&D Wenru Song will continue to hold those positions.
"Kira has built a truly differentiated complement portfolio that includes dual [mechanism of action] beyond single-pathway agents and long-acting complement inhibitors, reflecting the quality of their science and the deep expertise of their team," said Mahal.
"We are excited by the robust pipeline that this transaction creates, and are looking forward to advancing these important medicines for patients."
