BioCentury
ARTICLE | Emerging Company Profile

Laekna’s jumping off place

Why Laekna Therapeutics opted to start with a trio of Novartis compounds

September 14, 2018 7:44 PM UTC

Chinese biotech Laekna Therapeutics Shanghai Co. Ltd. is jump-starting its pipeline with a trio of clinical cancer compounds from Novartis AG. The safety of the lead candidate and its potential to synergize with the other two could give Laekna an advantage in castration-resistant prostate cancer.

CEO Chris Lu was head of discovery biology and technologies at Novartis before founding Laekna in 2016. He told BioCentury the biotech’s aim is to build a portfolio of internally discovered therapies for oncology, liver and infectious diseases. But to get off the ground, Lu said Laekna opted to source clinical stage assets that had “demonstrated efficacy and tolerable safety in patients.”...