Kestrel Therapeutics
Boston, US · Founded 2020 · Delaware corporation · 23 employees on LinkedIn · 2 known investors
Clinical-stage Boston biotech developing oral pan-KRAS inhibitors for patients with KRAS-driven cancers.
Also known as Kestrel Therapeutics Inc.
Founders & leadership
Board
Investors · 2
Reported raises · per SEC filings
Form D private placements$20.7M disclosed across 4 rounds · 2021–2025
▶$5MraisedAug 2025 · 6 investors · BiotechnologyRule 506(b)
- Nicholas SaccomanoDirector
- Denis PatrickDirector
- Barbara SosnowskiDirector
- Omar KhalilDirector
- Andrew PhillipsDirector
- Frank G. HaluskaExecutive Officer, Director
- Offering amount
- $10M
- Amount sold
- $5M
- First sale
- Jul 2025
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2020
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$8MraisedFeb 2025 · 7 investors · BiotechnologyRule 506(b)
- Nicholas SaccomanoDirector
- Barbara SosnowskiDirector
- Frank G. HaluskaExecutive Officer, Director
- Omar KhalilDirector
- Andrew PhillipsDirector
- Denis PatrickDirector
- Offering amount
- $16M
- Amount sold
- $8M
- First sale
- Feb 2025
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2020
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$7.5MraisedJan 2022 · 6 investors · BiotechnologyRule 506(b)
- Denis PatrickDirector
- Andrew PhillipsDirector
- Omar KhalilDirector
- Frank G. HaluskaExecutive Officer, Director
- Offering amount
- $40M
- Amount sold
- $7.5M
- First sale
- Dec 2021
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2020
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$228KraisedMar 2021 · 4 investors · BiotechnologyRule 506(b)
- Frank G. HaluskaExecutive Officer, Director
- Offering amount
- $2M
- Amount sold
- $228K
- First sale
- Mar 2021
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2020
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Kestrel Therapeutics is a Boston, Massachusetts-based clinical-stage biotechnology company discovering and developing small-molecule therapies for intractable cancers driven by mutations in the KRAS oncogene. The company's stated goal is to develop small-molecule inhibitors that potently and selectively target KRAS regardless of the specific mutation or tumor type, addressing an oncogene that its materials describe as altered in more than 20% of all cancers, with RAS-family mutations (KRAS, HRAS, NRAS) present in over 30% of cancers.
The lead program, KST-6051, is described as an oral pan-KRAS inhibitor that in pre-clinical testing was effective against human tumors and well tolerated. Dosing has begun in a Phase 1 study (NCT07458347) in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors carrying a locally assessed KRAS mutation. Beyond KRAS, the company states an aspiration to extend its methodology to other oncogenic targets.
Founding story
Kestrel Therapeutics was founded in 2020 by Frank G. Haluska, MD, PhD, who serves as Founder, President and CEO. Haluska was previously a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, program leader at the Dana-Farber Harvard Cancer Center, Chief Medical Officer at Ariad Pharmaceuticals, and CEO of Anchiano Therapeutics.
Traction
The company has advanced KST-6051 from pre-clinical testing into a Phase 1 clinical study (NCT07458347) in patients with advanced or metastatic KRAS-mutant solid tumors, moving it to clinical stage.
Latest developments
Kestrel reported an $8 million initial closing from a $16 million offering in a February 2025 SEC filing, and has since begun dosing patients in a Phase 1 trial of KST-6051.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Kestrel positions KST-6051 as a potential best-in-class oral pan-KRAS inhibitor, aiming at mutation- and tumor-type-agnostic KRAS inhibition rather than a single mutant allele.
The company differentiates on inhibitors active against both the ON (GTP-bound) and OFF states of KRAS and on pan-KRAS coverage across mutations and tumor types, combined with oral dosing.
Technology
Kestrel's discovery strategy centers on potency, durable inhibition of both the OFF and ON states of KRAS, and selectivity. The company states it has built a foundation of science based on a physical understanding of the drug-target interaction, and has developed novel chemical matter with biophysical, biochemical and pharmacological properties that inhibit both the GTP-bound (ON) and OFF forms of KRAS, durably disrupting GTP-mediated signaling. Its lead compound, KST-6051, is an orally administered pan-KRAS inhibitor.
Go-to-market
Patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors harboring KRAS mutations, including indications such as pancreatic cancer, where the company notes more than 95% of tumors carry KRAS mutations.
Geography
Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, United States; listed as a venture at the Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab within the Harvard Innovation Labs ecosystem.
History
Founded in 2020 by Frank G. Haluska, the company built a KRAS-focused discovery platform, was listed among Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab ventures, disclosed an $8 million initial closing of a $16 million offering in February 2025, and subsequently entered clinical development with the Phase 1 study of KST-6051.
Compiled by commissioned research from 6 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 2
launches, deals, and filingsDosing started in a Phase 1 study (NCT07458347) of the oral pan-KRAS inhibitor KST-6051 in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors with a locally assessed KRAS mutation.
An SEC filing reported an initial closing of $8 million out of a $16 million offering, characterized as a venture round of undisclosed series.
$8M source ↗
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
Legal entities · 1
corporate structureIn the news
▸Research sources · 6
primary sources listed
- Kestrel Therapeutics $8 Million funding round 2025-02-21app.fundz.net · web
6 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Kestrel Therapeutics do?
- Clinical-stage Boston biotech developing oral pan-KRAS inhibitors for patients with KRAS-driven cancers.
- Who are Kestrel Therapeutics's investors?
- Kestrel Therapeutics's investors include Pfizer Venture Investments, Section 32.
- How much funding has Kestrel Therapeutics raised?
- Kestrel Therapeutics has disclosed $20.7M raised across 4 rounds.
- Where is Kestrel Therapeutics headquartered?
- Kestrel Therapeutics is headquartered in Boston, US.