Kazia Therapeutics Limited (NASDAQ: KZIA) announced it has in-licensed a SETDB1-targeted drug development platform from QIMR Berghofer for an upfront payment of approximately $1.39 million.

The platform includes an AI-integrated drug discovery engine and a lead compound called MSETC, a bicyclic peptide designed to target SETDB1, a protein involved in tumor immune evasion. The agreement grants Kazia global rights with a tiered revenue-sharing structure and no clinical or regulatory milestone obligations.

SETDB1 is an epigenetic regulator that has been associated with aggressive disease and poor clinical outcomes in several tumor types. The company states that inhibiting SETDB1 may restore immune signaling in tumors that have become resistant to immunotherapy treatments.

"With this acquisition, we are extending our strategy to target how cancer controls its own behavior by addressing immune resistance at the chromatin level," said CEO John Friend.

The SETDB1 program joins Kazia's existing pipeline, which includes paxalisib for transcriptional reprogramming and a PD-L1 degrader platform. The company plans to advance both the SETDB1 and PD-L1 programs through IND-enabling studies over 18 months at an estimated combined cost of $6 million.

Kazia expects a substantial portion of the development expenditure to qualify for the Australian R&D tax incentive. The SETDB1 program is currently in preclinical development.

The Sydney-based oncology company's lead program is paxalisib, a brain-penetrant PI3K pathway inhibitor licensed from Genentech in 2016. The drug has completed a Phase 2/3 study in glioblastoma and is being tested in several other cancer types.

QIMR Berghofer is a medical research institute based in Brisbane, Australia, established in 1945 with nearly 1,000 scientists and staff working across cancer research, infection and inflammation, population health, and brain and mental health programs.