About us
Mesenkia Therapeutics is a Swedish-Japanese biotechnology company built on over three decades of collaborative research. Our modular KITAIbodies® is designed to develop first-in-class biologics for aggressive cancers with a high unmet medical need.
Our lead program targets glioblastoma, while our KITAIbodies® are designed to enable future therapeutics across multiple indications and modalities. Through strategic collaborations with pharmaceutical companies, we aim to accelerate drug development and create value for patients worldwide.
Our mission is to bring first-in-class therapies targeting HVEM-driven cancers into the clinic by combining scientific excellence, platform innovation and strategic partnerships.
KITAI (期待)
The name KITAIbodies® originates from the Japanese word Kitai, meaning hope and anticipation. It reflects the foundation of our company and our shared conviction to bring transformative therapy to patients facing terminal cancer.
Our team
Moa Fransson
Cecilia Drakskog
Gerald Pettersson
Jenny Lundell
Liselotte Larsson
Jonas Gibson
Board of Directors
Johan Lund
Carl-Henrik Heldin
Åsa Wallin
Miyuki Shimane
Bengt Westermark
Göran Forsberg
Our scientific founders from left to right: Carl-Henrik Heldin, Kohei Miyazono and Bengt Westermark
Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
About our founders
”Science with purpose, designed for patients.”
Mesenkia was founded 2024 on a scientific foundation from a long-standing Japanese-Swedish research collaboration, with the intention to develop treatments to cure the aggressive brain tumor, glioblastoma. The research resulted in Mesenkia’s proprietary KITAIbodies® that have the capacity to reshape how the field approaches targeted therapy in terminal cancers.
Kohei Miyazono
Kohei Miyazono is a prominent professor known for his significant contributions to caner research, particularly in the mechanisms of TGF-β signaling. He received his M.D. degree from the University of Tokyo in 1981 and later obtained a D.M.S. from the same institution in 1988. Professor Miyazono began his career at the Department of Hematology at the University of Tokyo and later worked in Dr Heldin’s lab in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1985. He returned to Japan between 1988 and 1990 before moving back to Sweden,…
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where he became an assistant and associate member at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. In 2000, he was appointed as a full professor at the University of Tokyo. Professor Miyazono’s work has significantly advanced the understanding of how TGF-β signaling influences cancer biology, including mechanisms of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, and the role of tumor suppressor genes. His findings have implications for developing therapeutic strategies against cancer.
Ryo Tanabe
Prominent researcher with experience from Uppsala University and the University of Tokyo. Researcher under Professor Kohei Miyazono, where he has mapped signaling pathways and studied proteins that drive cancer development for ten years. Dr Tanabe is a co-founder of Mesenkia and works on functional validation of antibodies, and he is also responsible for scientific publications describing the signaling pathways influenced by the company’s drug candidate and why they are important in glioblastoma.
Carl-Henrik Heldin
Professor of Molecular Biology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University. Professor Heldin has previously been chairman of the Nobel Committee and has a broad scientific global network. This is important for the company to achieve scientific dissemination and to be visible among top-ranked researchers.
Bengt Westermark
Professor of Tumor Biology, Department of Genetics, Pathology and Immunology, Uppsala University, scientific founder and inventor. Prof Westermark has a broad network among practicing physicians and researchers in glioblastoma. Bengt’s extensive network is important to the company in planning clinical studies and conducting them at clinics.
Foundation in numbers
1989
First joint publication
500+
Published scientific articles
60+
Patent applications
2024
Mesenkia founded