Kumquat Biosciences

Kumquat Biosciences is a clinical-stage San Diego biotechnology company founded in 2018 by pioneers of KRAS targeting. Its lead asset, KQB548 (BAY 3771249), is a KRAS G12D inhibitor licensed to Bayer in August 2025 in a deal worth up to 1.3 billion US dollars in upfront and milestone payments plus royalties; a first-in-human phase 1 monotherapy trial (NCT07207707) in KRAS G12D-mutant tumours such as pancreatic, colorectal and lung cancer began in October 2025. Kumquat also granted Takeda an exclusive global licence to an oral immuno-oncology small molecule (up to 130 million US dollars near term and more than 1.2 billion in potential milestones) and has a discovery collaboration with Lilly on small molecules that stimulate tumour-specific immune responses. SEC Form D filings show about 56 million US dollars sold in 2019 and a further 80 million US dollars sold in 2021; round names are not disclosed.