TuHURA Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:HURA), a Phase 3 immuno-oncology company developing novel technologies to overcome resistance to cancer immunotherapy, announced on Monday the successful completion of its acquisition of Kineta Inc (OTCPK:KANT), the maker of the novel VISTA inhibiting mAb formerly known as KVA1213, now renamed as TBS-2025.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, each share of Kineta common stock, par value USD0.001 per share, issued and outstanding immediately prior to the merger, was converted into the right to receive at the closing of the merger 0.185298 shares of TuHURA common stock, par value USD0.001 per share, for an aggregate of 2,868,169 shares of TuHURA common stock. Each share is also entitled to its pro rata portion of an aggregate of 1,129,885 additional shares of TuHURA common stock to be issued after 6 months following the closing, subject to adjustment, and the right to its pro rata share of cash consideration received by Kineta pursuant to disposed asset payments related to legacy Kineta assets.

VISTA (V-domain Ig suppressor of T cell activation) is an immune checkpoint highly expressed on myeloid cells. VISTA is a strong driver of immunosuppression in the tumour microenvironment (TME). VISTA expression is found on infiltrating immune cells, with the highest levels on myeloid lineage cells, including MDSCs. It suppresses T cell function, and high levels of VISTA expression in the human TME have been correlated in most studies with decreased overall survival (OS).