{"entity":{"id":"ksq-therapeutics","kind":"company","name":"KSQ Therapeutics","aka":["KSQ Therapeutics, Inc.","KSQ"],"tldr":"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.","asOf":"2026-11-04","links":[{"label":"Official website","url":"https://ksqtx.com/"},{"label":"Pipeline","url":"https://ksqtx.com/pipeline/"},{"label":"About KSQ","url":"https://ksqtx.com/about/"},{"label":"Partners","url":"https://ksqtx.com/partners/"},{"label":"Launch financing release (October 2017)","url":"https://ksqtx.com/press-releases/ksq-therapeutics-emerges-with-76-million-in-financing-to-pioneer-high-confidence-drug-development/"},{"label":"KSQ-001EX trial NCT06237881","url":"https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06237881"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["melanoma","head-and-neck","nsclc"],"sections":["cell-therapy","immunotherapy","drug-discovery"],"technologies":["til-therapy","crispr-screens"],"targets":["socs1"],"drugs":["ksq-001ex","ksq-004ex","ksq-4279"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"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."],"hq":"Lexington, MA","country":"US","companyType":"cell-therapy","website":"https://ksqtx.com/","founded":2015,"stage":"growth","investors":["flagship-pioneering","polaris-partners","arch-venture-partners"],"funding":[{"round":"Launch financing","year":2017,"amountUsd":76000000,"source":"https://ksqtx.com/press-releases/ksq-therapeutics-emerges-with-76-million-in-financing-to-pioneer-high-confidence-drug-development/","note":"Founding investors Flagship Pioneering and Polaris Partners; round name not stated."},{"round":"Series C","year":2018,"amountUsd":80000000,"source":"https://ksqtx.com/press-releases/ksq-therapeutics-secures-80-million-financing-and-advances-broad-pipeline-of-cancer-therapies-including-its-first-adoptive-t-cell-therapy-program-for-pd-1-resistant-solid-tumors/","note":"New investors Baillie Gifford, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Invus and Lilly Asia Ventures, with Flagship Pioneering, Polaris Partners, ARCH Venture Partners and Alexandria Equities."}]},"route":"/companies/ksq-therapeutics/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"head-and-neck","kind":"cancer","name":"Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/head-and-neck/"},{"id":"melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Melanoma","route":"/cancers/melanoma/"},{"id":"nsclc","kind":"cancer","name":"Non-small-cell lung cancer","route":"/cancers/nsclc/"}],"section":[{"id":"cell-therapy","kind":"section","name":"Cell Therapy","route":"/fronts/cell-therapy/"},{"id":"drug-discovery","kind":"section","name":"Drug Discovery Platforms","route":"/fronts/drug-discovery/"},{"id":"immunotherapy","kind":"section","name":"Immunotherapy","route":"/fronts/immunotherapy/"}],"technology":[{"id":"crispr-screens","kind":"technology","name":"CRISPR functional genomics","route":"/technologies/crispr-screens/"},{"id":"til-therapy","kind":"technology","name":"TIL therapy","route":"/technologies/til-therapy/"}],"target":[{"id":"socs1","kind":"target","name":"SOCS1","route":"/targets/socs1/"}],"drug":[{"id":"ksq-001ex","kind":"drug","name":"KSQ-001EX","route":"/drugs/ksq-001ex/"},{"id":"ksq-004ex","kind":"drug","name":"KSQ-004EX","route":"/drugs/ksq-004ex/"},{"id":"ksq-4279","kind":"drug","name":"KSQ-4279","route":"/drugs/ksq-4279/"}],"company":[{"id":"arch-venture-partners","kind":"company","name":"ARCH Venture Partners","route":"/companies/arch-venture-partners/"},{"id":"flagship-pioneering","kind":"company","name":"Flagship Pioneering","route":"/companies/flagship-pioneering/"},{"id":"polaris-partners","kind":"company","name":"Polaris Partners","route":"/companies/polaris-partners/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct05240898","kind":"trial","name":"A Phase 1 Study of RO7623066 Alone and in Combination in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors","route":"/trials/nct05240898/"},{"id":"nct06237881","kind":"trial","name":"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","route":"/trials/nct06237881/"},{"id":"nct06598371","kind":"trial","name":"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","route":"/trials/nct06598371/"}]}}