01
A revolutionary discovery
Our drug candidates stem from a discovery made by top-tier academic researchers in immunology: a protein newly identified as highly expressed in blood immune cells.
Pioneering immunopsychiatry
Immuno-based precision medicine for brain disorders
Karla Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing immunotherapy for neuropsychiatric diseases. Our disruptive immuno-based precision medicine approach relies on proof-of-concept data and abundant literature pointing out the role of the immune system in various mental illnesses.
01 The problem
Hundreds of millions of patients suffer from poor mental health
Mental disorders are a leading cause of the global health-related burden, with anxiety disorders and depression being the main contributors. The emergence of COVID-19 further worsened mental health, which corresponds to a huge unmet medical need.
Most therapeutic options available are decades old, have side effects and have limited efficacy.
The development of new therapies faces major hurdles
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H1
Symptom-based classification
Disease is defined by what a patient reports, rather than by the biology driving it.
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H2
Heterogeneous populations
Comorbidities and overlapping symptoms blur the boundaries between trial cohorts.
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H3
Little therapeutic innovation
Decades of development have concentrated almost entirely on neurotransmitter modulation.
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H4
No objective readout
Without translational, quantitative measures, basic science translates poorly into clinical efficacy.
As a result, hundreds of millions of patients are left with unsatisfactory treatment options.
02 Our mission
Empowering the immune system to restore peace of mind
Karla Therapeutics is on a mission to improve the condition of people living with a neuropsychiatric condition. We leverage recent advances in the field of neuroimmunology to harness the immune system and create disruptive treatment options for brain disorders.
Today's paradigm
- Classified by symptom
- One treatment, tried on everyone
- Years of trial and error
- Response judged subjectively
The Karla approach
- Classified by biology
- A therapy matched to a measurable target
- Patients selected before treatment
- Response predicted and monitored
03 Our science
Harnessing immunology to apply precision medicine in psychiatry
Karla Therapeutics aims to deliver the right treatment to the right patient through targeted therapy. We address the hurdles to neuropsychiatric drug development via a paradigm shift.
02
A patented antibody
Our patented monoclonal antibody was engineered to neutralise this innovative target — and could revolutionise the way mental disorders are treated.
03
Clinical relevance
Preliminary results have demonstrated clinical relevance in obsessive-compulsive disorder and suggest applications in other brain diseases.
Because the target is detectable in peripheral immune cells via a blood sample, a precision medicine approach becomes possible.
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Detect
Measure target expression in peripheral immune cells from a routine blood sample.
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Neutralise
Treat with a monoclonal antibody engineered against that specific target.
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Monitor
Predict and follow treatment response against an objective, quantitative readout.
Such an approach has revolutionised oncology — and will be applied also in psychiatry.
Karla Therapeutics
Precision, in psychiatry
The right treatment.
The right patient.
The first time.
Not a broader net — a sharper one. Karla is building psychiatry's first biology-defined patient selection, from the same blood sample that guides the therapy.
04 Our team
Our research comes out of a reputable source
Prof. Fulvio D'Acquisto
Co-founder
Scientific co-founder of Karla Therapeutics. A pharmacologist and immunologist with a long research interest in the design and identification of new immunomodulatory therapies. His recent work has shifted towards the interplay between emotions and immunity, forging new frontiers in translational research.
- 100+ publications
- 8 editorial boards
- USA · EU · Japan research career
Early recipient of the New Investigator Award of the Medical Research Council, UK. ORCID 0000-0002-4513-1608.
Simon Loiodice
Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer
PhD in neuropsychopharmacology with 10+ years of experience in early drug development gained in biotech, pharma and CRO. He has been involved in drug discovery and development programmes with tens of biotech and pharma partners across the EU and US.
- PhD neuropsychopharmacology
- 10+ yrs early development
- EU · US programmes
A passionate bioentrepreneur who likes to leave his comfort zone and challenge the status quo.
Gábor Heltovics
NLC Venture Partner
Partner at NLC Health Ventures — the confounding entity of Karla — and CEO of SERDA Therapeutics. Previously CEO of speciality biopharmaceutical company Tavanta Therapeutics, which under his guidance secured over $55 million in funding and grew from two people to an organisation with five pivotal clinical-stage compounds.
- $55M+ raised at Tavanta
- 5 clinical-stage compounds
- NLC Health Ventures
Indications spanning oncology and pain, with an innovative pre-clinical pipeline behind them.
05 Contact
Visit us in France
Our research comes out of a reputable source. Drop by for a coffee and a chat.
Karla Therapeutics SAS Biopôle Clermont-Limagne63360 Saint-Beauzire
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France