10129806Enhancing the commercialisation and sustainability of Klas TherapeuticsClosedGrant for R&DInnovate UKAdvanced malignant melanoma (MM) was a cancer considered untreatable just over a decade ago, with an average life expectancy for patients of 6 - 10 months. Today, 50% of patients can expect to live for at least 5 years. This is because of the advent and availability of new treatment options, namely immunotherapy and targeted therapies. Whilst the introduction of these new therapy options has brought a paradigm shift in the management of MM, there is a palpable frustration that the 50% of patients who do not respond to the immunotherapy very quickly run out of treatment options. Therefore, there is a clear need for new, targeted, effective melanoma treatments that reduce systemic toxicity and are less susceptible to drug resistance. Using our proprietary technology, a lysine (K), Leucine (L), Alanine (A) rich peptide is conjugated to a photosensitising compound (S), known as KLAS (KT-001). The technology works by utilising a process known as photodynamic therapy (PDT). PDT is routinely used in non-melanoma cancer but has lacked efficacy against melanoma, due to the high pigmentation of melanoma. Our preliminary data provides strong proof-of-principle evidence on the potential of KLAS-PDT for the treatment of MM, enabling PDT to be effective, for the first time, against the highly pigmented cutaneous MM. Furthermore, as PDT is a targeted treatment, toxicity and resistance issues are greatly reduced. The goal of the company is to commercialise this technology, offering a solution to both patients and health care professionals. Given the size of the global market with estimated melanoma treatment sales in 2020 of 5.8 billion USD, we believe that there is a significant potential for a substantial return on investment. The immediate focus of this project is to de-risk the investment potential by enhancing the pre-clinical data package. This will be achieved through the following objectives: 1\. Establishing the potential for a cream based application for the topical delivery of our technology, enhancing the current target product profile. 2\. Investigating the addition of nanotechnology in the bid to increase efficacy and stability. 3\. Increase the investor readiness of our current material positioning ourselves for the next step in the commercialisation of our technology.