Kolltan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a private company founded in 2007 to develop novel monoclonal antibody (mAb) and small-molecule drugs targeting receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). Kolltan's primary targets derive from seminal discoveries made in the laboratory of Dr. Joseph Schlessinger, Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Schlessinger's laboratory has characterized a novel molecular mechanism underlying activation of RTKs providing, for the first time, a clear molecular explanation — at atomic resolution — for the oncogenic activity of mutations that have been identified in a variety of human cancers.
These proprietary findings enable new strategies for selective inhibition of both ligand-stimulated and oncogenic RTKs. Kolltan plans to target several RTKs playing well-validated roles in a range of cancers and other diseases. With the benefit of an exclusive license to certain key intellectual property arising out of Dr. Schlessinger's laboratory, Kolltan will focus on the rapid translation of such intellectual property into lead therapeutic molecules, and on the development of drugs that complement and enhance existing standards of cancer therapy.
The current generation of cancer drugs, which act by interfering with the tyrosine kinase activity of oncogenic tyrosine kinases, has been remarkably successful in the treatment of a variety of cancers. Unfortunately, it is now clear that many patients responding to these drugs develop resistance in later dosing cycles, and ultimately fail therapy. Kolltan expects that the mechanism of action of its drugs will be unaffected by such resistance.
Kolltan's strategy for its first disease target is to focus initially on the development of a therapeutic human mAb, due to its anticipated shorter path to regulatory approval, and later, on the possible discovery and development of synthetic small molecule therapeutics, to which Kolltan's technology is equally applicable. Kolltan will assess additional targets through proof of principle experiments.
Kolltan's offices and laboratories are located in New Haven, Connecticut in close proximity to the Schlessinger Laboratory at the Yale School of Medicine. Pursuant to an agreement with Yale University, Kolltan supports continuing RTK research in the Schlessinger Laboratory. Kolltan has not entered into any commercial partnership or collaboration agreements for the development or commercialization of any products but does expect to consider them as Kolltan's portfolio matures.