TILT Biotherapeutics, a Helsinki, Finland-based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cancer immunotherapies, raised €22M in funding.
The round was led by Lifeline Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to advance to Phase II of its combination trials which use oncolytic immunotherapies synergistically with checkpoint inhibitors.
Led by founder and CEO, Akseli Hemminki, TILT Biotherapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cancer therapeutics based on its proprietary oncolytic adenoviruses armed with molecules including cytokines that can stimulate, or suppress, T cells. Its patented TILT® technology, which can be delivered locally and systemically, modifies the tumor microenvironment, and eliminates its ability to suppress immune responses to cancer, thereby enhancing T-cell therapies such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy, and CAR T therapies. Its asset, TILT-123, is a 5/3 chimeric serotype adenovirus armed with two human cytokines: TNF alpha and IL-2. TILT-123 has demonstrated a 100% response rate in pre-clinical cancer models in vivo, and it is currently in Phase I clinical trials.
The company’s pioneering approach has been recognized by industry leaders including with the Merck KGaA and Pfizer Alliance, who are collaborating to investigate TILT-123’s therapeutic effect in combination with the PD-L1 inhibitor, avelumab (Bavencio®), in head and neck cancer (NCT05222932). The company has two collaborations with MSD, a tradename of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, investigating TILT-123 in combination with pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA®) in ovarian cancer (NCT05271318) and in refractory non-small cell lung cancer. In 2019, TILT established an additional partnership with Biotheus, a privately held Chinese company based in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China, for the development and commercialization of TILT’s proprietary oncolytic virus TILT-123 in Greater China.
FinSMEs
07/02/2023