Tachyon Therapeutics, Inc. ("Tachyon" or "the Company"), a private, clinical-stage biotechnology company developing transformative cancer therapies against novel targets, today announced that the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has awarded the company a $7.1 million grant to support a Phase 1 clinical study of TACH101 in patients with advanced solid tumors, with an expansion phase planned for gastrointestinal cancers, including microsatellite instability high (MSI-H) colorectal cancer (CRC).

TACH101 is a first-in-class, small molecule inhibitor of KDM4 histone demethylase, an important epigenetic regulator of processes responsible for proliferation of cancer stem cells, evasion of apoptosis, and deficiency in DNA repair. Through KDM4, TACH101 inhibits proliferation of cancer stem cells and solid and hematopoietic tumors shown in various preclinical and animal models. Tachyon has received clearance of the Company’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to develop TACH101 for the treatment of advanced cancers.

"Therapy resistance and metastatic dissemination are the main challenges in developing effective cancer treatments. Cancer stem cells and tumor-initiating cells play a significant role in this, and until now, have only been poorly characterized. We have completed extensive preclinical studies to support the clinical advancement of TACH101, and we have shown its ability to reduce the population of tumorigenic cells and potently shrink tumors in cancer models,” said Frank Perabo, M.D., Ph.D., CEO of Tachyon Therapeutics. “We are pleased to receive the support of CIRM to advance the first KDM4 inhibitor to enter clinical development.”

“We are excited to fund Tachyon’s first clinical trial with TACH101, the first KDM4 inhibitor in clinical development,” states Dr. Maria T. Millan, President and Chief Executive Officer, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). ”Consistent with CIRM’s mission to accelerate transformative stem-cell based approaches to address unmet medical needs, this candidate is a potential breakthrough approach to targeting cancer stem cells, which drive aggressive and hard to treat cancers.”

About Tachyon Therapeutics, Inc.

Tachyon Therapeutics, Inc. develops first-in-class therapeutics against novel targets from previously unexplored cancer dysregulation pathways to propel new options for the treatment of advanced cancers. Tachyon operates with a dedicated internal core development team and a virtual external network of expertise to achieve one goal – advance our programs with speed, innovation, quality and scientific integrity. For more information, please visit www.tachyontx.com.

About CIRM

At CIRM, we never forget that we were created by the people of California to accelerate stem cell treatments to patients with unmet medical needs, and act with a sense of urgency to succeed in that mission. To meet this challenge, our team of highly trained and experienced professionals actively partners with both academia and industry in a hands-on, entrepreneurial environment to fast track the development of today’s most promising stem cell technologies. With $5.5 billion in funding and more than 150 active stem cell programs in our portfolio, CIRM is the world’s largest institution dedicated to helping people by bringing the future of cellular medicine closer to reality. For more information go to www.cirm.ca.gov.

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