Friday, December 12, 2008

Kineta Targets Immune System Drugs

Seattle-based Kineta, a new startup started by veterans of Illumigen, launched earlier this week, saying that they will develop biopharmaceuticals focused on enhancing and modulating the immune system for the treatment of viral and autoimmune diseases. The firm is headed by Shawn Iodanato and Charles Magness, who were most recently at Illumigen. The firm also said it has Drs. Michael Gale Jr. and Michael G. Katze, two experts from the University of Washington, as scientific founders. The company is targeting treatment of diseases such as influenza, West Nile virus, hepatitis C, Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.