Tacalyx, a biotech company focused on the discovery and development of cancer therapies directed at Tumor Associated Carbohydrate Antigens, has secured €11 million in a first closing of its seed extension round to advance its lead clinical candidate TCX-201 through preclinical development and toward a clinical trial application filing in 2027.
The round was raised from existing investors, including Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Kurma Partners, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Eurazeo, Creathor Ventures, and Thuja Capital. The company intends to expand the round with additional investors in a subsequent closing.
The Berlin-based company has selected TCX-201 as its first clinical candidate, an antibody drug conjugate targeting an undisclosed TACA for the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies and other solid tumors. TACAs are distinctive glycan structures uniquely expressed or overexpressed on tumor cells that play critical roles in tumor progression, including cell adhesion, immune evasion, and metastasis. Because TACAs remain consistently expressed even in tumors lacking actionable genomic alterations or after standard therapies fail, they represent a largely untapped class of cancer-specific targets. In parallel, the new capital will allow Tacalyx to continue to progress its broader pipeline of first-in-class and best-in-class programs, with the selection of the next clinical candidate planned for the end of 2026.
Founded in 2019 as a spin-out of the Max-Planck-Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany, Tacalyx has built a proprietary discovery platform capable of identifying and generating high-affinity antibodies against TACAs, enabling these previously inaccessible targets to become druggable.
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We are deeply grateful to our investors for their unwavering commitment in our mission to develop novel and effective treatments against solid tumors. Tacalyx has selected a clinical candidate for its TCX-201 program and is now progressing preclinical activities to prepare for the CTA submission. Cancer patients cannot wait.
Jean Engela, CEO, Tacalyx
Tacalyx has delivered on its promise to unlock the therapeutic potential of TACAs, a frontier in oncology that has long been considered undruggable. With the selection of its first clinical candidate and significant advances with its earlier pipeline, the company is now rapidly transitioning from discovery research to a clinical-stage biotech. I am proud of the team’s achievements.
Klaus Schollmeier, Chairman of the Board, Tacalyx
