KSQ Therapeutics

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.