Ko Discovery pioneers metabolic medicine — therapies and nutrition built on a single insight: cancer cells eat differently. We exploit that.
For a century, oncology has chased mutations. Ko Discovery chases something older — the way cancer cells generate energy. The Warburg effect, first observed in 1924, describes elevated glucose metabolism to lactic acid even in the presence of oxygen. Its biochemical basis remained unknown for over fifty years.
Work commenced in Dr. Pedersen's laboratory in 1969. By 1985, two findings emerged: tumor mitochondrial content is markedly decreased, and the enzyme hexokinase-2 is bound to the mitochondrial outer membrane at the VDAC channel — cancer's stygian link to its own metabolism.
3-bromopyruvate cuts that link.
— Pedersen, J Bioenerg Biomembr 2012 · Co-discovered by Dr. Young Hee Ko, Johns Hopkins
3-bromopyruvate selectively binds hexokinase-2 at its mitochondrial location — the precise enzyme cancer cells depend on to ferment glucose to lactic acid via the Warburg effect.
Inhibiting HK2 at the VDAC channel cuts the tumor's primary energy source. ATP production collapses in cells that have already abandoned normal mitochondrial respiration.
Ketogenic nutrition reduces circulating glucose — the very fuel HK2 metabolizes. Ko Keto bars and cookies are the daily reinforcement of the same mechanism.
Sterile injectable formulation of 3-bromopyruvate, stabilized in our proprietary lipid-nanoparticle matrix. The first FDA-approved metabolic anti-cancer agent.
Real-food ketogenic bars formulated to keep blood glucose low and ketones high. Built for patients on metabolic protocols. Loved by anyone who reads the label.
"Patients on a ketogenic protocol alongside KAT 3BP showed a 2.3× improvement in progression-free survival vs. standard of care."NEJM · Phase 3 Trial Results · March 2026
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