In addition to KAI’s current clinical pipeline, research programs to identify novel treatments for neuropathic pain and ocular diseases have generated encouraging data, providing the future opportunity to advance additional KAI platform discoveries from the bench to the clinic.

Gamma PKC Inhibition for Neuropathic Pain

Several published preclinical studies have demonstrated gamma PKC inhibition to be an attractive target for treatment of neuropathic pain. KAI has completed a number of successful studies with its lead gamma PKC inhibitor compounds in industry standard models of neuropathic pain.

Beta PKC Inhibition for Angiogenesis

KAI has identified several beta 1 and beta 2 PKC inhibitors as potential therapeutics for ocular angiogenic indications. Numerous published studies have demonstrated PKC plays a central role in diabetic retinopathy (DR) pathology, and that interfering with beta PKC (βPKC) function in particular can impact disease via anti-angiogenic pathways, among others.

PKC isozymes have also been identified as important targets for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), where they are involved in growth factor signaling and secretion, angiogenesis, and vascular permeability - the immediate cause of vision loss for AMD patients. KAI has identified a series of lead compounds which show promise in models of corneal angiogenesis and vascular permeability.