Tapping menin
How LLS funded and nurtured a menin-MLL program from UMich to Kura
In a sign of the growing role of venture philanthropy in bridging the gap from academia to industry, a project backed by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has been licensed to Kura Oncology Inc. from the University of Michigan. The university team created compounds that block the interaction of menin with MLL fusion proteins and could become first-in-class therapies for acute leukemias.Last month, the researchers published preclinical findings inCancer CellandNature Medicinedemonstrating activity of two lead compounds in acute leukemias and prostate cancer. The same week, Kura announced it had licensed the molecules in December 2014 from the University of Michigan and said it would continue to work with the academic labs.
The Society is notching the program as a success for its Therapy Acceleration Program (TAP), set up to advance academic programs in blood cancers and help them find commercial partners. TAP was designed to complement its Translational Research Program - a $60 million per year grants program for developing new agents and biology around blood cancers...