NIRO guest lecture Kristian Mark Jacobsen: From Biology to Therapeutic Candidate: The PH1154 Story

Kristian Mark Jacobsen is one of the founder of the startup company Kripthonite Therapeutics. In this lecture, he will present development of PH1154 as a case study in bridging discovery biology and drug development. PH1154 is a first-in-class metabolic drug candidate that selectively targets low-oxygen cancer cells by disrupting their energy production, tackling a fundamental cause of treatment failure. Kristian will outline the scientific rationale, key experimental systems, and decision points that shaped the evolution of the company’s lead candidate and foundation of the company.

Kripthonite Therapeutics grew out of pioneering research at Aarhus University, where Professor Thomas Poulsen's laboratory developed a new class of compounds with a unique ability to target hypoxic cancer cells. The background for this development was a family of naturally occurring molecules used as chemical warfare among bacteria in the seabed. Today, PH1154 lends it mechanism of action from these evolutionarily optimized molecules.

In 2023, researchers spun out from the university with the ambition to bring this science to patients. The team combines deep scientific expertise with industry experience from large pharmaceutical companies and publicly traded biotech companies focusing on hard-to-treat cancers.

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