# KSQ Therapeutics

Source: https://onco.cc/companies/ksq-therapeutics/  
OnCo record `ksq-therapeutics` (Company). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

KSQ Therapeutics makes treatments from a patient's own tumour-fighting immune cells, gene-edited to work harder and last longer, for solid tumours such as melanoma, head and neck cancer and lung cancer. Two are in early trials at MD Anderson.

## Summary

KSQ Therapeutics was founded in 2015 by David Sabatini, William Hahn, Jonathan Weissman and Tim Wang with founding investors Flagship Pioneering and Polaris Partners. It runs genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screens across cancer models and immune cells, which it calls CRISPRomics, to find drug targets. Its lead programmes are engineered tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte (eTIL) therapies: KSQ-001EX, with the SOCS1 gene inactivated, in a phase 1/2 trial in melanoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and non-small-cell lung cancer (NCT06237881), and KSQ-004EX, with SOCS1 and Regnase-1 inactivated, in a phase 1/2 trial in several advanced solid tumours (NCT06598371); both trials are sponsored by MD Anderson Cancer Center with KSQ as collaborator. KSQ-4279, a USP1 inhibitor, was licensed worldwide to Roche in July 2023 (as RO7623066) and completed a Roche-sponsored phase 1 trial in advanced solid tumours (NCT05240898). Takeda holds a licence to cell and non-cell therapies against targets from KSQ's platform (2021, expanded 2023), and Ono acquired research-stage DNA damage response programmes in 2023. KSQ emerged with $76 million in October 2017 and raised an $80 million Series C in September 2018 from new and existing investors including Flagship, Polaris and ARCH Venture Partners.

## Fields

- Kind: Company
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: KSQ Therapeutics, Inc.; KSQ
- HQ: Lexington, MA
- Type: cell-therapy
- Website: https://ksqtx.com/

## Notes

- The eTIL trials are sponsored by MD Anderson Cancer Center with KSQ as collaborator, and neither has an OnCo trial record.
- OnCo has no USP1 or Regnase-1 (ZC3H12A) target record.
- The Flagship company page returned a bot-check page and was not read; Flagship as investor rests on KSQ's own 2017 and 2018 releases.

## Sources

- Official website: https://ksqtx.com/
- Pipeline: https://ksqtx.com/pipeline/
- About KSQ: https://ksqtx.com/about/
- Partners: https://ksqtx.com/partners/
- Launch financing release (October 2017): https://ksqtx.com/press-releases/ksq-therapeutics-emerges-with-76-million-in-financing-to-pioneer-high-confidence-drug-development/
- KSQ-001EX trial NCT06237881: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06237881

## Connected records

- cancers: [Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/head-and-neck/), [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/), [Non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/nsclc/)
- fronts: [Cell Therapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/cell-therapy/), [Drug Discovery Platforms](https://onco.cc/fronts/drug-discovery/), [Immunotherapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/immunotherapy/)
- technologies: [CRISPR functional genomics](https://onco.cc/technologies/crispr-screens/), [TIL therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/til-therapy/)
- targets: [SOCS1](https://onco.cc/targets/socs1/)
- drugs: [KSQ-001EX](https://onco.cc/drugs/ksq-001ex/), [KSQ-004EX](https://onco.cc/drugs/ksq-004ex/), [KSQ-4279](https://onco.cc/drugs/ksq-4279/)
- companies: [ARCH Venture Partners](https://onco.cc/companies/arch-venture-partners/), [Flagship Pioneering](https://onco.cc/companies/flagship-pioneering/), [Polaris Partners](https://onco.cc/companies/polaris-partners/)
- trials: [A Phase 1 Study of RO7623066 Alone and in Combination in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors](https://onco.cc/trials/nct05240898/), [A Phase 1/2 Study of KSQ-001EX, Autologous Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes Engineered to Inactivate the SOCS1 Gene, in Patients With Select Advanced Solid Tumors](https://onco.cc/trials/nct06237881/), [A Phase 1/2 Study of KSQ-004EX, Autologous Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes Engineered to Inactivate Genes Encoding SOCS1 and Regnase-1, in Patients With Select Advanced Solid Tumors](https://onco.cc/trials/nct06598371/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/ksq-therapeutics.json