Tagworks Pharmaceuticals, a Nijmegen, Netherlands-based provider of a Click-to-Release chemistry designed to deliver effective and safe systemic therapies, raised $65M in Series A funding.
The round was led by Ysios Capital and Gilde Healthcare with participation from Novartis Venture Fund, New Enterprise Associates, Lightstone Ventures, Meneldor and Oost NL. In conjunction with the financing, Thomas Harth (Ysios Capital), Edwin de Graaf (Gilde Healthcare), Marianne Uteng, Ph.D. (Novartis Venture Fund), Michele Park, Ph.D. (NEA), and Christina Isacson, Ph.D. (Lightstone Ventures), joined the Board of Directors.
The company intends to use the funds to advance the lead program, a click-cleavable ADC targeting TAG72, into the clinic, and expand the pipeline.
Led by CEO Marc Robillard, Tagworks Pharmaceuticals is a precision therapy company which specialises in a Click-to-Release approach, leveraging its technology platform, which is protected by a broad patent estate, to develop a standard of care for patients suffering from severe diseases including cancer. With operations in the Netherlands and the U.S., the company is developing a pipeline of click-cleavable therapies. Its lead program, TGW101, is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting TAG72, a clinically-validated, pan-carcinoma target that so far has remained out of reach of current ADC therapies. Tagworks’ technology enables on-target activation of ADCs and immunomodulators, as well as off-target deactivation of radioimmunotherapies to enhance their therapeutic index.
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