Vivere Oncotherapies has raised over $10 million to develop targeted cancer therapies designed to activate the immune system against solid tumors that typically evade immune detection. The Berkeley, California-based company said the financing was led by YK Bioventures, with additional funding from Pillar, Berkeley Frontier Fund, Freeflow Ventures, and the National Cancer Institute.
A UC Berkeley spin-out, Vivere is focused on so-called immunologically “cold” tumors—solid cancers that lack meaningful immune-cell infiltration and often do not respond to established immunotherapy approaches such as checkpoint inhibitors. The company is aiming to engineer targeted immunotherapies that can reach tumors more efficiently and deliver treatment in a way that is both safer and more effective.
Vivere said its platform is intended to help the immune system detect and selectively destroy cancer cells in tumors that evade the body’s natural defenses. The company is targeting difficult-to-treat indications, including solid tumors such as colorectal and ovarian cancer, where patients can face limited therapeutic options and poor prognoses.
Company executives said the new capital will support the development of therapies designed to overcome biological barriers that make cold tumors resistant to conventional immunotherapies, advancing a pipeline of targeted approaches intended to improve delivery and effectiveness in solid-tumor settings.
KEY QUOTES:
“Vivere’s goal is to empower the patients’ immune systems to fight off cancer. Our team is united by a belief that cold tumors are not inherently untreatable, just misunderstood. We’ve spent years building a platform capable of breaking through the immunological invisibility of these tumors. With the support of our investors, we’re now poised to bring a new generation of targeted immunotherapies to patients who currently have no effective options.”
Melissa Kotterman, Ph.D., CEO, Vivere Oncotherapies
“Building Vivere’s platform has been about rethinking what’s possible in cancer therapy. From its early days, the vision was to build a platform that could finally unmask cold tumors to the immune system through improved delivery of targeted and safe therapies. Our team’s rare combination of engineering, immunology, and translational expertise paired with our experience in building clinical-stage biotech companies gives us the tools to tackle problems others have deemed intractable.”
David Schaffer, Ph.D., Co-founder, Vivere Oncotherapies; Professor, UC Berkeley; Director, QB3 and Bakar Labs
