T-Therapeutics has expanded its Series A financing to a total of $91 million after securing an additional $32 million from new and existing investors. The Cambridge-based biotechnology company, which develops next-generation T cell receptor therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune disease, said the new capital will strengthen efforts to advance its pipeline of first-in-class TCR CD3 bispecifics into clinical development.
Tencent and BGF joined the round as new investors, alongside returning backers Sofinnova Partners, F Prime, Digitalis Ventures, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Sanofi Ventures, and the University of Cambridge Venture Fund. The expanded Series A follows the company’s initial raise of $59 million.
The funding will accelerate several core programmes within T-Therapeutics’ oncology and immunology portfolios. The company’s lead oncology asset targets a pan-tumor driver applicable across multiple solid tumor types, while its lead immunology program is a pan-autoimmune bispecific that aims to achieve precision immune reset by selectively depleting pathogenic immune cells. The company also plans to explore further new therapeutic strategies, such as T cell subset depletion.
T-Therapeutics’ pipeline is enabled by its proprietary OpTiMus platform, which produces a vast repertoire of fully human, high specificity T cell receptors capable of engaging intracellular targets that have been long considered undruggable.
These TCRs are paired with next-generation CD3 T cell engagers engineered for potency, safety, and favourable pharmacokinetics, resulting in bispecific candidates that the company believes can transform the treatment landscape for cancer and autoimmune disease.
The company was spun out of the University of Cambridge and is supported by a team with deep expertise across mouse genome engineering, single-cell genomics, drug development, machine learning, and structural biology. Its investor base includes leading life sciences firms such as Sofinnova Partners, F Prime, Digitalis Ventures, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Tencent, BGF, and Sanofi Ventures.
KEY QUOTES
“Our transformative medicines tackle upstream disease-drivers that can have pan-indication impact. We are delighted to have significantly added to our Series A financing, which we see as a strong validation of both our technology and our progress to date. I would like to thank Tencent and BGF for their belief in our potential, as well as all our existing investors for their continued support.”
Theodora Harold, Chief Executive Officer, T-Therapeutics
“The existing investors co-founded T-Therapeutics to push the boundaries of bispecific technology. This additional capital enables us to expand into T cell subset depletion, one of the most exciting areas in immunology, while continuing to advance oncology programmes. We are now ideally positioned to address both cancer and autoimmune disease, two broad disease areas with critical unmet medical needs, with a platform that unlocks targets previously considered undruggable.”
Graziano Seghezzi, Managing Partner, Sofinnova Partners
“This is a leadership team with an outstanding track record of building successful drug discovery businesses and translating science into medicines. Backed by a syndicate of world-class life sciences investors, T-Therapeutics is uniquely positioned to unlock previously undruggable targets with its first-in-class bispecifics. We are proud to support the team and help catalyse their programmes towards the clinic.”
Luke Rajah, Partner, BGF
