UK-based biotech T-Therapeutics has netted $133m in a Series B financing round to bring its range of first-in-class T-cell receptor (TCR)-targeting T-cell engager (TCE) therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases to the clinic.
With cash in the bank from this oversubscribed round, which was co-led by the British Business Bank and Advent Life Sciences, T-Therapeutics will look to generate clinical proof-of-concept data for both its lead TCR-CD3-targeting bispecific oncology and autoimmune drugs. The round had big pharma involvement too. Eli Lilly, as well as the venture arms of Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi, contributed.
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On the oncology side, T-Therapeutics is developing a programme it says offers “broad therapeutic potential” across the realm of solid tumours. Meanwhile, in immunology, the company is using its platform to develop a precise, novel approach to resetting the immune system – specifically by selectively reducing levels of pathogenic cells that drive chronic inflammation.
While T-Therapeutics was light on the details for both programmes, the company did note that it designed both to address multiple indications where patients currently have limited treatment options – with the company’s CEO, Theodora Harold, touting their “blockbuster” potential.
At the core of T-Therapeutics’ approach is its OpTiMus platform, which the British biotech says can unlock access to validated and previously undruggable intracellular targets. This platform comes as progress in developing TCEs for solid tumours remains stifled due to the lack of appropriate targets, says Advent Life Sciences general partners, Dominic Schmidt.
“By unlocking previously undruggable intracellular targets, with the potential for a markedly improved safety profile, T-Therapeutics’ platform brings the promise of this treatment/modality to solid tumours, where the great majority of cancers arise,” Schmidt commented.
On top of its newfound capital, T-Therapeutics will also bolster its leadership through this financing round, as representatives from both financing co-leads, as well as Johnson & Johnson’s innovation arm JJDC and Samsara BioCapital will take a seat at the biotech’s board as non-executive directors.
TCEs attract the big bucks
T-Therapeutics is part of a growing list of biotechs attracting funding and taking part in deals in the TCE space, as the modality piques the interest of investors and big pharma alike.
In recent months, several pharma giants have bolstered their pipelines with the modality – Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), GSK, Gilead, UCB, Boehringer Ingelheim and Sanofi have all forged deals in this area.
Companies are also broadening their focus towards new areas for TCEs – which have traditionally found the greatest success in the blood cancer space. Now, companies are exploring their potential in solid tumours, as well as autoimmune and infectious diseases.
In a recent report from GlobalData, parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology, a notable portion of biopharma professionals expressed their view that TCEs will be the modality with the greatest impact in the immunology and dermatology spaces in the next one-to-three years – eclipsed only by monoclonal, bi and trispecific antibodies.
