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Kiadis applies proprietary NK cell technology to treat Covid-19

By 17/08/2020June 4th, 2021No Comments

Dutch biopharma company Kiadis has launched a research programme to research and develop its K-NK cell therapy technology as a treatment for Covid-19. This builds upon K-NK cells’ efficacy against other viral diseases, such as cytomegalovirus, and the fact that Covid-19 seems to break down NK immunity.

Kiadis’ K-NK-ID101 programme will be advanced in collaboration with five Dutch institutions – these include the Department of Viroscience of Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam and the Division of Infectious Diseases of the Veterinary Faculty of Utrecht University.

Kiadis chief scientific officer Robert Friesen said: “Our unique K-NK-cell technology platform is broadly applicable across a range of therapeutic areas.

“While our initial focus has been targeted towards blood cancers, we are now expanding our research into infectious diseases and have established relationships with anti-viral and Covid-19 academic and drug development experts, to develop our K-NK-cell therapeutics for the treatment of Covid-19.”

The company’s CEO Arthus Lahr added: “We believe that medicines based on K-NK cells could be an important part of the armamentarium needed to fight this global pandemic, and offer a potential universal pandemic preparedness platform.”