Yukin yields Satt Sud-Est licences

French regional tech transfer office Satt Sud-Est today granted an exclusive licence to France-based pharmaceutical development startup Yukin Therapeutics covering immunotherapy patents jointly owned by multiple French institutions.
The patents cover intellectual property jointly owned by Nice Sophia Antipolis University, Inserm, the French National Center for Scientific Research and Nice University Hospital, building on inventions originating from regional cancer research hub Canceropôle Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (Canceropôle PACA).
Yukin Therapeutics will advance immunotherapeutic candidates for cancer that induce an anti-tumour response through a pathway known as NF-kappa-B-inducing kinase (NIK). Modulating the NIK mechanism could also bolster the effectiveness of existing cancer drugs based on the antibody anti-PD-1.
Yukin’s approach has been studied in vitro on skin cancer cells as well as in tumours of the colon, lung, breast, prostate and pancreas. Its impact has also been observed in mice models with melanoma and colorectal cancer.
Life sciences-focused VC firm Advent France Biotechnology is Yukin Therapeutics’ main shareholder. The startup’s other investors include Satt Sud-Est and an early-stage commercialisation vehicle established by Canceropôle PACA.