{"entity":{"id":"iksuda-therapeutics","kind":"company","name":"Iksuda Therapeutics","aka":[],"tldr":"Iksuda Therapeutics, based in Newcastle, designs antibody-drug conjugates, antibodies that release a cancer-killing drug only once inside the tumour. Its HER2-targeting medicine is in early human trials, with encouraging results in oesophageal cancer.","summary":"Iksuda Therapeutics develops antibody-drug conjugates built around tumour-selective release and activation of payloads, combining stable conjugation (its PermaLink platform) with prodrug payloads including its proprietary protein-alkylating ProAlk class. The lead asset IKS014 is a HER2-directed ADC in a phase 1 study in HER2-positive and HER2-low solid tumours; ESMO 2025 dose-escalation data showed anti-tumour activity across dose levels, and a preliminary analysis at the 2026 ASCO GI symposium reported an 80 percent clinical benefit rate in 10 previously treated patients with HER2-positive oesophageal cancer. IKS03 is a CD19-targeted ADC for B-cell malignancies, and IKS04, a CA242 (CanAg)-directed pyrrolobenzodiazepine ADC given with unconjugated antibody, received FDA IND clearance in July 2026 for phase 1 trials in gastrointestinal cancers. The company closed a USD 47 million financing in June 2021 co-led by Mirae Asset Capital and Celltrion.","asOf":"2026-09-10","links":[{"label":"Official website","url":"https://www.iksuda.com/"},{"label":"USD 47 million financing release","url":"https://www.iksuda.com/news-views/iksuda-therapeutics-closes-47-million-financing-round/"},{"label":"News and views","url":"https://www.iksuda.com/news-views/"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["esophageal"],"sections":["adcs"],"technologies":["adc"],"targets":["her2","cd19"],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":["Later financing (reported elsewhere in 2023) not found on the company news pages fetched. Founding year not sourced."],"hq":"Newcastle upon Tyne","country":"GB","companyType":"biotech","website":"https://www.iksuda.com/","stage":"startup","investors":[],"funding":[{"round":"Series A","year":2021,"amountUsd":47000000,"source":"https://www.iksuda.com/news-views/iksuda-therapeutics-closes-47-million-financing-round/","note":"Described by the company as a USD 47 million (about GBP 34 million) financing round co-led by Mirae Asset Capital, Celltrion and Premier Partners; series letter not stated"}]},"route":"/companies/iksuda-therapeutics/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"esophageal","kind":"cancer","name":"Oesophageal cancer","route":"/cancers/esophageal/"}],"section":[{"id":"adcs","kind":"section","name":"Antibody-Drug Conjugates","route":"/fronts/adcs/"}],"technology":[{"id":"adc","kind":"technology","name":"Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)","route":"/technologies/adc/"}],"target":[{"id":"cd19","kind":"target","name":"CD19","route":"/targets/cd19/"},{"id":"her2","kind":"target","name":"HER2","route":"/targets/her2/"}]}}