Emmaus Life Sciences, Inc. announced that it has entered into an agreement with Kainos Medicine, Inc. ("Kainos") to lead the preclinical development of Kainos' patented IRAK4 inhibitor (KM10544) as an anti-cancer drug and further advance the research and development activity currently underway at Kainos. With this agreement in place, Kainos plans to complete the study of the therapeutic mechanism of action ("MOA") of KM10544 in solid cancers, blood cancers and lymphoma. Emmaus will be responsible for the investigation and proof of target disease selection, efficacy and safety.

In a related development, the companies also entered into a letter of intent regarding possible future joint development of small molecule therapeutics and other pharmaceutical assets. IRAK4 (interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 4) is a serine-threonine protein kinase made up of 460 amino acids that is a key messenger in signaling initiated by TLR/IL-1R (toll-like receptor/interleukin-1 receptor). It is known to be present and active in the occurrence of certain immunity responses, inflammation disorders and various cancers with myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MYD88) mutation.

Kainos will receive $500,000 in cash and $500,000 in shares of Emmaus common stock in consideration for entering into the agreement. Emmaus, in turn, has been granted rights of first negotiation and first refusal for an exclusive license regarding the development and commercialization of products based on the intellectual property resulting from the agreement. In the event a license agreement is executed between Kainos and Emmaus, Kainos' exclusive license to patent rights to KM10544 will be transferred to Emmaus on terms and conditions to be determined after further discussions.