Industry | Biotechnology |
---|---|
Founded | 2009 |
Founder | Samuel D. Waksal |
Headquarters | 450 East 29th Street, , New York, NY 10016 |
Number of locations | 4 |
Key people | Harlan W. Waksal, MD (CEO) Anastasios G. Konidaris (Interim Chairman) |
Products | capecitabine, dofetilide, entecavir, ribavirin, temozolomide, tetrabenazine, tobramycin |
Number of employees | 101 [1] |
Parent | Sanofi |
Website | kadmon.com |
Kadmon Corporation (originally Kadmon Pharmaceuticals) is a biopharmaceutical company based in New York City. It also has operations in Warrendale, PA and Brighton, MA. The company was founded in 2009 by Samuel D. Waksal, [2] [3] founder and former CEO of ImClone Systems, now fully merged into Eli Lilly and Company. Waksal had served a federal prison sentence stemming from his fiduciary role as CEO in the 2001 ImClone stock trading case. When released in 2009 he was barred from serving as an officer for any publicly traded company but Kadmon was privately financed. [4] [5]
In September 2014, amid plans to take the company to an IPO Harlan W. Waksal, brother of Samuel Waksal, became President and Chief Executive Officer while Samuel Waksal remained on with the title Chief of Innovation, Science and Strategy. [6] In early 2016 Sam Waksal left Kadmon and in June the company filed paperwork for its IPO. [7] [8] On July 27, 2016 the company's stock began trading on the NYSE under the symbol KDMN [9] but switched to NASDAQ in October 2020. [10] On 8 September 2021, Sanofi announced it would acquire the company for $1.9 billion. [11] The deal completed in November and its stock was deregistered as it became a subsidiary of Sanofi.
As of 2019 Kadmon had ongoing clinical trials for KD025 in specific fibrotic and neurodegenerative diseases and tesevatinib to treat autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and autosomal recessive PKD. [12]
During Waksal's leadership of ImClone the company was engaged in early stage research projects for 15 years before filing its first drug application. [13] Kadmon however immediately began acquiring drugs further advanced - either already marketed in the US or in the later stages of clinical development. [14] It acquired the Warrendale, PA-based company Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals and their Ribasphere and topotecan products. [15] It also signed an agreement with Ontario, Canada-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals for their Hepatitis C drugs ribavirin and taribavirin (now KD024). [16] Cancer drugs XL647 [13] and XL844 [14] were acquired from Exelixis. An inhibitor of several protein kinases, tesevatinib (XL647, KD019) entered Phase II clinical trial for certain indications of non-small cell lung cancer. [17] [18] and in polycystic kidney disease. [19] XL844 is an inhibitor of protein kinases Chk1 and Chk2 and may increase the sensitivity of cancer cells to radiation therapy. [20]
In an acquisition atypical for a biotechnology company, an 1800-year-old Chinese herbal formula was added to Kadmon's portfolio. PhytoCeutica's PHY906 (KD018) is a formula of four botanical products that had long been used for the treatment of gastrointestinal distress. Preclinical studies have shown it to enhance the therapeutic activity of several anticancer agents. [21] In 2014 KD018 was in a Phase II trial in combination with irinotecan in metastatic colon cancer. [22]
In 2011 the company acquired rights from Brighton, MA-based Nano Terra Inc. [23] for their Pharmacomer Technology research platform and three drug candidates in clinical development. [24] These compounds include SLx-2119 (KD025), an inhibitor to Rho kinase 2 (ROCK2) with possible potential in fibrotic disease [25] and focal cerebral ischemia. [26] SLx-4090 (KD026) is a triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) inhibitor being explored for metabolic disorders. [27] SLx-2101 (KD027) is a phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) inhibitor, a class of drug used in the treatment of erectile dysfunction. [28]
In 2012 the rights to salirasib (KD032), a Ras antagonist in development for cancer therapy, [29] were acquired from Concordia Pharmaceuticals of Fort Lauderdale, FL. [30] It also acquired the rights from Burlington, MA-based Dyax Corp. for DX-2400, [31] a Matrix metalloproteinase-14 (MPP-14) targeted monoclonal antibody intended to inhibit tumor blood vessel formation and metastasis. [32]
As of 2019 Kadmon produces several generic drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States.
Valproate (VPA) and its valproic acid, sodium valproate, and valproate semisodium forms are medications primarily used to treat epilepsy and bipolar disorder and prevent migraine headaches. They are useful for the prevention of seizures in those with absence seizures, partial seizures, and generalized seizures. They can be given intravenously or by mouth, and the tablet forms exist in both long- and short-acting formulations.
ImClone Systems Incorporated was a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing biologic medicines in the area of oncology. It was founded in 1984 and had its corporate headquarters in Bridgewater, New Jersey, and its research headquarters in New York City. On October 6, 2008, it accepted a $6.5 billion acquisition offer from Eli Lilly and Company, and became a fully-owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company on November 24, 2008. Prior to the acquisition, it was traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol IMCL. Imclone lost its separate identity in 2014 when its former ImClone research and manufacturing sites were renamed Eli Lilly and Company.
Samuel D. Waksal is the founder and former CEO of the biopharmaceutical company ImClone Systems. He is also the founder of Kadmon Pharmaceuticals, which was financed with private capital and commenced operations in New York City in 2010. At ImClone, Waksal led the company to develop the cancer drug Erbitux (cetuximab). During the course of its review process with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Waksal became involved in an insider trading scandal revolving around improper communications with personal friends and family members. He was convicted of several securities violations, served time in federal prison, and was released.
Erlotinib, sold under the brand name Tarceva among others, is a medication used to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and pancreatic cancer. Specifically it is used for NSCLC with mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) — either an exon 19 deletion (del19) or exon 21 (L858R) substitution mutation — which has spread to other parts of the body. It is taken by mouth.
Sorafenib, sold under the brand name Nexavar, is a kinase inhibitor drug approved for the treatment of primary kidney cancer, advanced primary liver cancer, FLT3-ITD positive AML and radioactive iodine resistant advanced thyroid carcinoma.
Leflunomide, sold under the brand name Arava among others, is an immunosuppressive disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), used in active moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. It is a pyrimidine synthesis inhibitor that works by inhibiting dihydroorotate dehydrogenase.
Nilotinib, sold under the brand name Tasigna marketed worldwide by Novartis, is a medication used to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) which has the Philadelphia chromosome. It may be used both in initial cases of chronic phase CML as well as in accelerated and chronic phase CML that has not responded to imatinib. It is taken by mouth.
A protein kinase inhibitor (PKI) is a type of enzyme inhibitor that blocks the action of one or more protein kinases. Protein kinases are enzymes that phosphorylate (add a phosphate, or PO4, group) to a protein and can modulate its function.
Lestaurtinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor structurally related to staurosporine. This semisynthetic derivative of the indolocarbazole K252a was investigated by Cephalon as a treatment for various types of cancer. It is an inhibitor of the kinases fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3), Janus kinase 2 (JAK2), tropomyosin receptor kinase (trk) A (TrkA), TrkB and TrkC.
SUGEN (Sugen) was a drug discovery company focused on development of protein kinase inhibitors. It was founded in 1991, and shut down in 2003, after pioneering protein kinases as therapeutic targets and developing the successful cancer therapy sunitinib (Sutent).
Regorafenib, sold under the brand name Stivarga among others, is an oral multi-kinase inhibitor developed by Bayer which targets angiogenic, stromal and oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK). Regorafenib shows anti-angiogenic activity due to its dual targeted VEGFR2-TIE2 tyrosine kinase inhibition. Since 2009 it was studied as a potential treatment option in multiple tumor types. By 2015 it had two US approvals for advanced cancers.
A Janus kinase inhibitor, also known as JAK inhibitor or jakinib, is a type of immune modulating medication, which inhibits the activity of one or more of the Janus kinase family of enzymes, thereby interfering with the JAK-STAT signaling pathway in lymphocytes.
Merck & Co., Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey, and is named for Merck Group, founded in Germany in 1668, of whom it was once the American arm. The company does business as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD outside the United States and Canada. It is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, generally ranking in the global top five by revenue.
Fedratinib, sold under the brand name Inrebic, is an anti-cancer medication used to treat myeloproliferative diseases including myelofibrosis. It is used in the form of fedratinib hydrochloride capsules that are taken by mouth. It is a semi-selective inhibitor of Janus kinase 2 (JAK-2). It was approved by the FDA on 16 August 2019.
Ceritinib is a prescription-only drug used for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It was developed by Novartis and received FDA approval for use in April 2014..Ceritinib is also sold under the brand name Spexib in few countries by Novartis.
Osimertinib, sold under the brand name Tagrisso, is a medication used to treat non-small-cell lung carcinomas with specific mutations. It is a third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor.
Entrectinib, sold under the brand name Rozlytrek, is an anti-cancer medication used to treat ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer and NTRK fusion-positive solid tumors. It is a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), of the tropomyosin receptor kinases (TRK) A, B and C, C-ros oncogene 1 (ROS1) and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK).
Tesevatinib is an experimental drug proposed for use in kidney cancer and polycystic kidney disease. The drug was first developed by Exelixis, Inc. and was later acquired by Kadmon Corporation. Tesevatinib binds to and inhibits several tyrosine receptor kinases that play major roles in tumor cell proliferation and tumor vascularization, including epidermal growth factor receptor, epidermal growth factor receptor 2, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), and ephrin B4 (EphB4).
Verastem Oncology is an American pharmaceutical company that develops medicines to treat certain cancers. Headquartered and founded in Boston, Massachusetts, the firm is a member of NASDAQ Biotechnology Index.
BeiGene is a global biotechnology company that specializes in the development of drugs for cancer treatment. Founded in 2010 by Xiaodong Wang and chief executive officer John V. Oyler, the company has offices in Asia, North America, Australia and Europe. BeiGene has developed several pharmaceuticals, including tislelizumab, a checkpoint inhibitor, and zanubrutinib, a Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor.