Kanvas Bioscience’s New Research Shows Potential of HiPR-Map Platform for LBP Development

Kanvas Biosciences

Kanvas Biosciences’ new research suggests that the company’s HiPR-Map Platform is capable of outperforming traditional sequencing methods.¹ According to the company, this makes the platform a potentially game-changing development in live biotherapeutic product (LBP) discovery and development.

In a press release, Kanvas’ chief scientific officer Dr. Phil Burnham said, “LBPs show great promise for positively modulating the microbiome, a critical component of human health, however existing tools aren't sufficient for developing complex, next generation LBPs. Kanvas' HiPR-Map technology delivers comprehensive analysis and ultra-high resolution–both optically and taxonomically–while achieving imaging over millimeter-length scales and doing so at cost parity with traditional sequencing. Our latest research shows that our platform can optimize LBP manufacturing and provide a framework for assessing LBPs' therapeutic potential, so that the most effective drugs can be designed and delivered to patients as efficiently as possible."

Prateek Sehgal, senior principal scientift at Kanvas Bio, added, “HiPR-Map's unparalleled accuracy and exceptional spatial resolution position it as a transformative breakthrough, with potential extending well beyond LBP applications. Kanvas' platform empowers researchers to visualize and dissect complex microbial communities across diverse fields, for instance, providing novel diagnostic insights and advancing the understanding of microbiota in nutritional health."

In July of 2024, Kanvas announced that it had secured $12.5M in funding, which was to be used develop its spatial biology platform and to advance two immuno-oncology products, KAN-001 and KAN-003.² Both potential therapies were developed as LBPs.

In a press release issued at the time, Kanvas Biosciences co-founder and CEO Matthew Cheng said, “We have a remarkable opportunity to help patients by offering them an effective, novel therapeutic approach to some of the most common and debilitating conditions, starting with improving the efficacy of immunotherapy in the treatment of solid organ cancer. I'm so proud of the extraordinary progress the Kanvas team has already achieved. Because of this progress and with additional capital, Kanvas is positioned to accelerate its growth and build on its early success in illuminating host-microbiome interactions by launching a clinical pipeline of precision microbiome therapeutics."

In the same press release, Kanvas board chair and general partner at DCVC Jason Pontin added, “Not only does Kanvas's spatial biology platform offer much-needed discovery capabilities, it also now enables the manufacturing of complex LBPs as a therapeutic modality. KAN-001 and KAN-003 have the potential to be breakthrough, complementary therapeutics for ICI-refractory and ICI-naive cancers. By providing the missing link between microbiome drug design rationale and therapeutic outcomes, Kanvas has the unique and exciting ability to provide a better mechanistic understanding of microbiome-addressable conditions, and ultimately improve clinical success for the next generation of LBPs."

SOURCES

Kanvas Bio Publishes New Research on its Novel Spectral Imaging Platform, a Transformative Tool for Microbiome Drug Discovery and Development. Kanvas Biosciences. April 1, 2025. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kanvas-bio-publishes-new-research-on-its-novel-spectral-imaging-platform-a-transformative-tool-for-microbiome-drug-discovery-and-development-302417178.html

Kanvas Biosciences Secures Additional $12.5M to Advance Its Novel, Microbiome-Based Immuno-oncology Drug Candidates to IND Filing. Kanvas Biosciences. July 1, 2024. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kanvas-biosciences-secures-additional-12-5m-to-advance-its-novel-microbiome-based-immuno-oncology-drug-candidates-to-ind-filing-302184016.html