Kimia Therapeutics, Inc. (Kimia), a biotech company dedicated to developing small-molecule drugs in oncology and immunology via its advanced ATLAS discovery platform, on 5th November 2026 has entered into a clinical collaboration partnership with CStone Pharmaceuticals. Pursuant to the partnership, CStone shall take forward Kimia's lead oncology drug, KT-721, which is a small molecule drug that targets pathways essential for tumor cell survival, to the clinical development stage of Phase 1. With this partnership, Kimia becomes a clinical-stage company.
CStone will conduct the Phase 1 trial in mainland China and Australia, leveraging its expertise in oncology clinical development and regulatory strategy. Dose-escalation and expansion will be part of the study design. The study will explore the activity of KT-721 in biomarker-selected patients as an initial proof of concept to establish safety, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and efficacy information. In accordance with the agreement, Kimia will cover CStone's costs for the clinical development of the program, and CStone is entitled to receive milestones and royalty income from global net sales of the asset. Kimia will provide the drug supply, CMC support, and regulatory oversight.
"Generative AI played a key role in the discovery of KT-721, inspiring novel paths of experimentation that led to a breakthrough for the program. This discovery was leveraged using clever medicinal chemistry, resulting in a highly potent and selective molecule", said Stig K. Hansen, co-founder, President and CEO of Kimia. Entering the clinic is a defining milestone for Kimia. It marks our rapid evolution into a clinical-stage company and is an important validation of our drug discovery strategy. CStone's expertise and capabilities in oncology clinical development will be valuable as we aim to quickly evaluate KT-721 in Phase 1 proof-of-concept studies in biomarker-selected patient populations, he added to his statement.
"We are pleased to collaborate with Kimia to advance this innovative oncology asset," said Dr. Jason Yang, Chief Executive Officer, President of R&D and Executive Director of CStone. "This collaboration connects Kimia's innovative platform with a clear path to efficient and robust clinical development to bring potential new therapies to patients faster."
The leading candidate is the first in a line of potential novel drugs in the areas of oncology and immunology, which have been developed by Kimia. There are several other programs in the works.
Collaboration between Kimia Therapeutics and CStone Pharmaceuticals spurs growth within the healthcare sector by combining AI-enabled drug discovery with established clinical expertise. Utilizing CStone's past experiences in regulation and conducting Phase 1 studies for the small molecule drug KT-721 enables the team to overcome early translational challenges. The collaboration highlights the application of generative AI technologies in oncology, thus fostering investments in precision medicine across the industry, reducing risk in emerging biotech companies, and improving patient access to cancer drugs.
Kimia is an emerging technology company that is using high-throughput precision chemistry together with AI to discover new medicines for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The proprietary ATLAS (AcTive Learning with Automated Synthesis and Screening) platform at Kimia combines machine learning-driven molecular design with high-throughput nanogram-scale synthesis and direct-to-biology screening in cyclic experiments.
CStone, formed in December 2015, is an innovative biopharmaceutical company that specializes in developing medicines to treat cancers, immunology and inflammation-related diseases, among others. The Company is committed to meeting the medical needs of the people both within and outside of China. Since its formation, the Company has been successful in bringing four novel medicines to market. At present, the Company has gained approval of 21 new drug applications covering nine indications. The Company's product pipeline includes 13 innovative medicines, including first-in-class or best-in-class antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and mono-/multi-specific antibodies.
