Press Release
2 December 2024

Dr. Falk Pharma Acquires Kynos Therapeutics

The London Life Sciences team advised Kynos Therapeutics Limited (“Kynos Therapeutics”) and its selling shareholders on its sale to Dr. Falk Pharma GmbH (“Dr Falk”).

Kynos Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of novel treatments for patients suffering from acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. The company was founded as a spin-out of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, together with lead investor Epidarex Capital, a leading early-stage transatlantic venture fund, along with IP Group, and Scottish Enterprise.

Since its foundation, Kynos Therapeutics has progressed development of its lead molecule, KNS366, a highly potent and selective first-in-class inhibitor of the enzyme kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO), through a Phase I trial. KNS366 was shown to be safe and well-tolerated and led to a dose-dependent inhibition of the enzyme KMO and modulation of its downstream metabolites. Dr. Falk will add KNS366 to its R&D pipeline and will further explore the potential of KNS366 in future clinical trials, initially focusing on acute pancreatitis.

Dr. Falk, a family-owned business with a global presence, has been developing and marketing innovative medicines to treat a wide range of gastrointestinal disorders like inflammatory bowel disease or eosinophilic esophagitis as well as hepatobiliary disorders such as primary biliary cholangitis for over 60 years. The company has its headquarters and R&D facilities in Freiburg, Germany.

The Goodwin team was led by Andrew Harrow and Maria Dragun, and included George Fagan and Emma McIntyre, with support from Malcolm Bates, Alex Fisher and Alex Nicolaidis, and Dulcie Daly.

For more details on the sale, please see here.