Abstract:

The pharmaceutical industry is rapidly realizing that ‘undruggable’ targets are only undruggable because we do not have the right technology to target them. KAI Pharmaceuticals has developed a unique peptide-based technology to selectively modulate intracellular protein-protein interactions and thus dramatically expand the druggable universe. The company has applied this approach to discover potent and, importantly, selective inhibitors and activators for members of the protein kinase C (PKC) family of isozymes. These compounds have rapidly advanced into clinical development. KAI’s lead product candidate, KAI-9803, is an isozyme-selective delta protein kinase C (δPKC) inhibitor that has demonstrated efficacy in reducing damage to heart muscle and improving cardiac function in patients with myocardial infarction (MI) who undergo balloon angioplasty. KAI-9803 is partnered with Bristol-Myers Squibb and is currently enrolling patients in a Phase 2b efficacy trial. KAI is also developing KAI-1678, an epsilon protein kinase C (εPKC) inhibitor, which reduces pain in a wide array of different animal pain models and is currently being tested in three Phase 2 clinical trails in both acute and chronic pain.  

Biography:

Steve joined KAI Pharmaceuticals in March 2005. Prior to KAI, Steve held senior research leadership positions at Chiron Corporation and Thios Pharmaceuticals. He led multiple research programs at all stages from target identification to IND filing. Between 1994 and 2004, Steve held escalating positions at Chiron Corporation, most recently serving as Program Head of the kinase inhibitor program and member of the Research Management Team. At Chiron Steve was responsible for the evaluation of all new biological targets. As Chiron's Director of Lead Optimization Biology, he led all hit-to-lead projects and advanced many of these into full-scale lead optimization. Subsequently, as head of Chiron's kinase inhibitor program he oversaw kinase inhibitor research and personally led the identification of Advanced Pre-clinical Candidates (APCs) for cancer indications as well as heading the outlicensing of a pre-clinical program in diabetes and neurodegeneration. In 2004, Steve joined Thios Pharmaceuticals as Vice President of Research, where he led efforts targeting biological sulfation, primarily for the treatment of inflammation. Steve directed the identification of the first lead series for inhibition of a sulfotransferase and his research group advanced two therapeutic antibodies to the point of humanization. In these roles Steve also managed the identification and evaluation of pharmacogenomic technologies that can accelerate the research to development transition and support both indication and patient selection, as well as effective biomarker strategies. Dr. Harrison holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and an M.A. and B.A. in Biochemistry, all from the University of Cambridge, England. He is the author of numerous scientific publications and an inventor on sixteen issued U.S. patents.