STAT+: Leukemia drug data suggested a different way to treat diabetes. A new biotech will test that idea — SkimNews
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- Caspian Therapeutics is launching with $50 million in financing led by BVF Partners, with Eli Lilly and members of Kura Oncology's leadership also participating, to advance a menin inhibitor for diabetes and support a second candidate.
- Kura Oncology researchers discovered in animal studies that targeting the menin protein—originally pursued for leukemia cell growth control—also helped regulate blood sugar levels, prompting the cardiometabolic spinout.
- Kura Oncology will retain roughly 50% ownership of Caspian, and Kura CEO Troy Wilson will serve as executive chair of the new biotech's board.
- Robert Spencer, formerly CEO of Neurommune Therapeutics and a past leader of drug discovery programs at Merck, has been named Caspian's head.
Why it matters: Caspian's $50M raise—backed by Eli Lilly and BVF Partners—signals growing pharma appetite for repositioning validated oncology targets (menin) into the far larger diabetes and cardiometabolic market, where animal-stage findings now move into human testing.
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