Driven by his love for a good challenge and creating value from the work he does, KPMG alumnus, Arpad Kiraly, is looking to turn the table on cancer.  His company, Xylonix Biotech (soon to launch a rebranded name that will resonate more with the market and to reflect a pivoted innovation strategy), is developing a portfolio of universal, pro-immunity, and low-toxicity treatment drugs.

A go-getter, Kiraly is an engineer by training but possesses a sharp business mind. He was a Director with the Management Consulting practice at KPMG in Singapore where he helped to drive the firm’s telecommunications (telco) sector activities across ASEAN, before leaving to join that industry.

Kiraly therefore had a front row seat to the shifting tides in the telco sector. Telcos once used to create value through technology itself but have become more of a utility play today, and are dominated by those with big platforms and deep pockets.

During his stint in the telco industry, Kiraly became more involved in the capital markets and observed investors’ desire to diversify their portfolios into new realms. It was around this time that Kiraly met Dr. Fred Chung, a renowned research scientist in the field of Central Nervous System and Oncology. 

Having lost his own father to Alzheimer’s disease, Kiraly was impressed with Dr. Chung’s work, not only for the scientific mission itself but also the business potential. Kiraly and Dr. Chung decided to team up.

Xylonix is one of the hottest oncology biotechnology companies today. It has 3+ molecules in the pipeline, and has received pre-clinical trials approval in China, and is currently working on regulatory filings. The focus is on developing an innovative next generation immuno-oncology therapy beyond treatments such as chemotherapy and precision medicine, and into a technology known as XNX-C.

Kiraly and Dr. Chung believe the technology will work across many, if not all, forms of cancer and could be a key component in finding a “curative” cancer solution. They are expecting their research to be published in Nature (the leading industry peer review journal) shortly. Given its groundbreaking work in this field, Xylonix is attracting attention from multinational corporations and venture capitalists from around the world. 

“I’m excited to be able to deliver real science, real solutions to people. The speed-to-market for biotechnology is too slow at 5-7 years.  Approaches like ours enable risk to be more calculable, and therefore to bring innovation to bear much quicker and cheaper."

Arpad Kiraly
Chief Executive Officer
Xylonix Biotechnologies

According to Kiraly, the healthcare field can be inefficient and is in need of more business-savvy mindsets to strengthen product development, operations and ultimately, commercialization.

“KPMG has a key role to play as a catalyst for new and non-traditional partnerships in the industry ecosystem,” said Kiraly. “This includes being a thought leader, pushing smarter productization of assets, and visioning ‘beyond-the-pill’ services required to enable people to live longer, healthier lives.”

With 4000 professionals in KPMG’s Healthcare & Life Sciences practice across more than 100 countries, we support pharmaceutical and medical device companies of all sizes with growth strategy, M&A, compliance, and operational excellence initiatives.  Please contact us if you are interested to find out more on our services.

• 1 in 6 deaths is caused by cancer, the second highest category
• Approximately 70% of deaths from cancer occur in low- and middle-income countries.
• Around one-third of deaths from cancer are due to the 5 leading behavioral and dietary risks: high body mass index, low fruit and vegetable intake, lack of physical activity, tobacco use, and alcohol use.
• Cancer-causing infections, such as hepatitis and human papilloma virus (HPV), are responsible for up to 25% of cancer cases in low- and middle-income countries.

Source: World Health Organization https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancer

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