CDRD Ventures launches second spin-off in a month

CDRD Ventures Inc (CVI) has spun off a new company that is developing a family of antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Kairos Therapeutics Inc will continue to de-risk its ADC therapeutics — developed in-house by CVI parent, the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) — with the aim of attracting outside investment. Kairos is the second CVI spin off in a month, following the launch of Sitka Biopharma Inc (R$, December 6/13). John Babcook, CDRD's VP biologics, will serve as Kairos's inaugural president and chief scientific officer. Throughout his career, Babcook has participating in the development of more than 100 therapeutic antibody programs. He has worked at several early-stage biotechnology firms (Amgen, Abgenix and ImmGenics) and collaborated with many large companies (AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Abbott, Abbott Bioscience)....